Disease Trends

The graphs on the Health Sentinel site represent the end product of data collected from a large volume of historical sources and show disease patterns and other information from the 1800s to the present day. The graphs also show the steady decline of mortality from various diseases prior to the introduction of mass vaccination programs.

There is a great deal of evidence that the decline in infectious disease during the last century was mainly due to the introduction of basic public health measures such as provision of clean water and sewage treatment as well as to increased availability of unspoiled nutritious food, less crowded living conditions, and better personal hygiene.

The history of vaccine availability in Ontario (provides an approximation of the history of vaccines used in Canada)

Graphs on the Healthsentinel website

Timeline of vaccines on Wikipedia

What is the evidence for a causal link between hygiene and infections? (157 KB PDF) (See especially the graph at the top of pg 103 and Tables 1 and 2 on pgs 105 and 106)