In 2020, there were no reported cases of small pox and paralytic polio for example, compared to an annual average of 29,005 cases and 16,316 cases in the 20th century, respectively.
And even though progress in eradicating measles has stalled in recent years (due in part to growing vaccine skepticism), its morbidity is nowhere near the annual case load seen in the 20th century, when half a million people were infected in an average year.
Its prevalence has fallen by more than 99% due to vaccinations, along with a whole host of other diseases such as pertussis (whooping cough), mumps, rubella and diphtheria.
