Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines and the Forgotten History (2013)

By Suzanne Humphries, MD and Roman Bystrianyk

Source: https://unbekoming.substack.com/p/dissolving-illusions-disease-vaccines

= = =

The link provides the introduction to a Book Review written by UNBEKOMING of what he considers 'may be the most important book ever written on vaccination'.

Normally all UNBEKOMING's deep-dive essays are free, with only a couple where you need to be a paid subscriber to have access to the full content (like here). But his comprehensive intro-text already provides more than the jist of the book, so worth reading.

Here a shortened version of that intro-text:

> Mortality data from the United States and England demonstrates that deaths from measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, and scarlet fever declined by 90 to 99 percent before vaccines for these diseases were introduced. The 2013 book Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines, and the Forgotten History by Suzanne Humphries, MD, and Roman Bystrianyk reproduces these mortality graphs directly from official government sources—the Office of National Statistics, the US Census Bureau, vital statistics records—showing the decline curves beginning in the mid-1800s and reaching near-modern levels decades before mass vaccination campaigns commenced. Whooping cough deaths in the United States fell from approximately 7,600 annually in the late 1920s to around 1,200 by the late 1940s—an 85 percent reduction—before the pertussis vaccine entered widespread use. Scarlet fever, which killed at rates comparable to measles and whooping cough, declined to near zero without any vaccine at all.

By 2013, the childhood vaccination schedule in the United States had expanded to dozens of doses by age six, and questioning vaccine safety had become professionally dangerous. The establishment position held that vaccines had conquered infectious disease, that pre-vaccine eras were characterized by mass death from pathogens now safely controlled, and that declining vaccination rates posed existential public health threats. Dissolving Illusions directly contradicted this narrative by demonstrating that the great mortality decline preceded vaccination and coincided instead with sanitation infrastructure, clean water systems, improved nutrition, and the end of child labor conditions that had produced populations physiologically incapable of surviving common infections.

This may be the most important book ever written on vaccination. Humphries and Bystrianyk work within the conventional framework of germ theory—they accept that bacteria and viruses exist and can cause disease—which makes their demolition of the vaccine narrative impossible to dismiss as alternative-medicine overreach. Using mainstream sources and methodology, they take an axe to the founding mythology: that vaccines saved humanity from infectious disease. They did not. Sanitation did. Nutrition did. The end of child labor did. The graphs are unambiguous; the primary sources are unimpeachable. Tens of thousands of people, myself included, trace their awakening on this subject to this single book.

It is indeed a good read. Very well researched by Mr Bystrianyk.

I particularly like the section on Dr Salk. Surely one one of the top medical fraudsters of his age.

Whoops

8 minutes ago, MIke B Bad said:

Whoops

And I have an exclusive ocean-front view mansion for sale in Inner Mongolia.

Definitely a trend there.

On 6/18/2026 at 7:20 AM, Red Phoenix said:

Mortality data from the United States and England demonstrates that deaths from measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, and scarlet fever declined by 90 to 99 percent before vaccines for these diseases were introduced.

Sure... mortality dropped substantially.... but death isn't the only undesirable outcome of infections from these highly contagious diseases...

you can fool some of the people ALL the time.... I think the unknown author of that famous quote probably knew someone like you would be posting rubbish on internet chat rooms eventually.

While the claim is factually correct that deaths dropped before vaccines arrived, attributing that solely to a natural decline ignores the fact that disease transmission remained rampant. You can find historical disease trends and data reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or Our World in Data.

Edited June 24Jun 24 by gamb00ler

On 6/18/2026 at 7:20 AM, Red Phoenix said:

Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines and the Forgotten History (2013)

By Suzanne Humphries, MD and Roman Bystrianyk

Source: https://unbekoming.substack.com/p/dissolving-illusions-disease-vaccines

= = =

The link provides the introduction to a Book Review written by UNBEKOMING of what he considers 'may be the most important book ever written on vaccination'.

Normally all UNBEKOMING's deep-dive essays are free, with only a couple where you need to be a paid subscriber to have access to the full content (like here). But his comprehensive intro-text already provides more than the jist of the book, so worth reading.

Here a shortened version of that intro-text:

> Mortality data from the United States and England demonstrates that deaths from measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, and scarlet fever declined by 90 to 99 percent before vaccines for these diseases were introduced. The 2013 book Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines, and the Forgotten History by Suzanne Humphries, MD, and Roman Bystrianyk reproduces these mortality graphs directly from official government sources—the Office of National Statistics, the US Census Bureau, vital statistics records—showing the decline curves beginning in the mid-1800s and reaching near-modern levels decades before mass vaccination campaigns commenced. Whooping cough deaths in the United States fell from approximately 7,600 annually in the late 1920s to around 1,200 by the late 1940s—an 85 percent reduction—before the pertussis vaccine entered widespread use. Scarlet fever, which killed at rates comparable to measles and whooping cough, declined to near zero without any vaccine at all.

By 2013, the childhood vaccination schedule in the United States had expanded to dozens of doses by age six, and questioning vaccine safety had become professionally dangerous. The establishment position held that vaccines had conquered infectious disease, that pre-vaccine eras were characterized by mass death from pathogens now safely controlled, and that declining vaccination rates posed existential public health threats. Dissolving Illusions directly contradicted this narrative by demonstrating that the great mortality decline preceded vaccination and coincided instead with sanitation infrastructure, clean water systems, improved nutrition, and the end of child labor conditions that had produced populations physiologically incapable of surviving common infections.

This may be the most important book ever written on vaccination. Humphries and Bystrianyk work within the conventional framework of germ theory—they accept that bacteria and viruses exist and can cause disease—which makes their demolition of the vaccine narrative impossible to dismiss as alternative-medicine overreach. Using mainstream sources and methodology, they take an axe to the founding mythology: that vaccines saved humanity from infectious disease. They did not. Sanitation did. Nutrition did. The end of child labor did. The graphs are unambiguous; the primary sources are unimpeachable. Tens of thousands of people, myself included, trace their awakening on this subject to this single book.

On 6/18/2026 at 7:20 AM, Red Phoenix said:

Mortality data from the United States and England demonstrates that deaths from measles, whooping cough, diphtheria, and scarlet fever declined by 90 to 99 percent before vaccines for these diseases were introduced.

Yes, due to a whole host of other factors....better healthcare, improved sanitation, antibiotics, treatment regimes for secondary infections..........but actual morbidity declined rapidly with the introduction of vaccines.......agreed?

Here you can read what actual scientists and researchers think of the book that has captivated the intellectually challenged anti-vaxxers.....

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/wrong-about-polio-a-review-of-suzanne-humphries-md-and-roman-bystrianyks-dissolving-illusions-part-1-the-long-version/

he mighty Oak Tree was once a small acorn that stood its ground.

Nature rules; OK!

Edited June 25Jun 25 by Stiddle Mump

On 6/24/2026 at 3:42 PM, gamb00ler said:

Here you can read what actual scientists and researchers think of the book that has captivated the intellectually challenged anti-vaxxers.....

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/wrong-about-polio-a-review-of-suzanne-humphries-md-and-roman-bystrianyks-dissolving-illusions-part-1-the-long-version/

I do not agree with Joel A. Harrison (PhD, MPH is a retired epidemiologist) on this. He has it completely wrong about health. He is part of the 'Pill for every ill' medical industry. His ilk have to be swept away; sooner rather than later.

No good him keep quoting Wikipedia as a reliable source. Every other word is 'virus'.

17 hours ago, Stiddle Mump said:

he mighty Oak Tree was once a small acorn that stood its ground.

Nature rules; OK!

One of your more ridiculous oversimplifications of a incredibly complicated area of science. I"m sure such gross reductions in complexity are much more comfortable for you.

The best thing about the anti-vax group is that they will self-correct. Unfortunately, a lot of good kids are going to die first.

We can see it happening already! Stop Measles vaccine for school children in Western Samoa ( a US protected territory,) and so far 88 Kids have died from Measles. Dr. Death (Heggseted) visited , but there was a news blackout. There had been ZERO deaths from Measles there for the last 25 years. The number of cases in Texas is rising now, too. I’m old enough to remember kids in Iron Lungs breathing for them because of Polio. We eradicated. Hasn’t been a case originating from the U.S. in 40 years. Just wait.

On 6/18/2026 at 1:20 PM, Red Phoenix said:

And I have an exclusive ocean-front view mansion for sale in Inner Mongolia.

Perhaps you should write a book about using deflections to disguise a complete lack of facts. I'm sure some of your similarly challenged AN friends would buy it. But.... it is a distinct possibility that they're just sock puppets.

Edited June 26Jun 26 by gamb00ler

3 hours ago, FolkGuitar said:

The best thing about the anti-vax group is that they will self-correct. Unfortunately, a lot of good kids are going to die first.

We can see it happening already! Stop Measles vaccine for school children in Western Samoa ( a US protected territory,) and so far 88 Kids have died from Measles. Dr. Death (Heggseted) visited , but there was a news blackout. There had been ZERO deaths from Measles there for the last 25 years. The number of cases in Texas is rising now, too. I’m old enough to remember kids in Iron Lungs breathing for them because of Polio. We eradicated. Hasn’t been a case originating from the U.S. in 40 years. Just wait.

It’s tragic. Isn’t that right @transam ?

4 hours ago, FolkGuitar said:

The best thing about the anti-vax group is that they will self-correct. Unfortunately, a lot of good kids are going to die first.

We can see it happening already! Stop Measles vaccine for school children in Western Samoa ( a US protected territory,) and so far 88 Kids have died from Measles. Dr. Death (Heggseted) visited , but there was a news blackout. There had been ZERO deaths from Measles there for the last 25 years. The number of cases in Texas is rising now, too. I’m old enough to remember kids in Iron Lungs breathing for them because of Polio. We eradicated. Hasn’t been a case originating from the U.S. in 40 years. Just wait.

Are these dead white kids or dead recent immigrants kids .... do we care about Western Samoa?

Do western anti-vax groups have any effect on the parents in Western Samoa?

One of the distractions from recent health stats is the immigrants from dirt poor 3rd world countries often import health problems with them, but the authorities never mention that when gathering their pro vax statistics.

It's a bit like the Polio death stats, always a full world collection of stats, never the risk to a child only living in the western world.

Edited June 26Jun 26 by BritManToo

The U.S. military has resumed requiring flu vaccines for some service members in an exception to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's guidance declaring the shots voluntary two months ago.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-military-requires-flu-vaccine-some-after-outbreak-texas-training-center-2026-06-24/

Shocking.

3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Are these dead white kids or dead recent immigrants kids .... do we care about Western Samoa?

Some care about all kids. Not just those from our own back yards.
88 school children are dead (that could have been prevented). If it happened in Iran or Gaza, the world would be up in arms. It happened because vaccinations were stopped during trump's last term in office. 88 are dead so far.

14 hours ago, FolkGuitar said:

The best thing about the anti-vax group is that they will self-correct. Unfortunately, a lot of good kids are going to die first.

We can see it happening already! Stop Measles vaccine for school children in Western Samoa ( a US protected territory,) and so far 88 Kids have died from Measles. Dr. Death (Heggseted) visited , but there was a news blackout. There had been ZERO deaths from Measles there for the last 25 years. The number of cases in Texas is rising now, too. I’m old enough to remember kids in Iron Lungs breathing for them because of Polio. We eradicated. Hasn’t been a case originating from the U.S. in 40 years. Just wait.

From Gemini. You're welcome.

---

Is the following statement true and honest?
Stop Measles vaccine for school children in Western Samoa ( a US protected territory,) and so far 88 Kids have died from Measles.

Result from the Gemini AI tool:

The statement is mostly false and highly misleading because it confuses two different territories, misstates how the vaccine halt occurred, and distorts the timeline of the tragedy.

While a severe measles outbreak did occur in the region, the claims regarding political status, the reason for stopping the vaccine, and the sequence of events are factually incorrect.

Fact-Checking the Claims

• "Western Samoa (a US protected territory)" — FALSE
  The territory mentioned is Samoa (formerly known as Western Samoa), which is a fully independent sovereign nation. It is not a U.S. territory. The statement confuses it with American Samoa, which is an unincorporated U.S. territory. Notably, American Samoa maintained high vaccination rates and suffered zero deaths during this period.

• "Stop Measles vaccine... and so far 88 Kids have died" — FALSE TIMELINE
  The statement inaccurately links the vaccine halt as a direct precursor to 88 deaths. In reality, the tragic 2019 outbreak resulted in 83 total deaths (mostly children under 5). The temporary halt of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine occurred more than a year before the outbreak even began.

9 hours ago, FolkGuitar said:

Some care about all kids. Not just those from our own back yards.
88 school children are dead (that could have been prevented). If it happened in Iran or Gaza, the world would be up in arms. It happened because vaccinations were stopped during trump's last term in office. 88 are dead so far.

Trump is responsible for vaccination in Western Samoa?

7 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Trump is responsible for vaccination in Western Samoa?

he is the fount of all evil, along with america, jews and capitalism. all interchangeable or combined as needed

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Trump is responsible for vaccination in Western Samoa?

Of course not! That was RFK Jr.
Your AI response is more about mislabeling Western Samoa geographically, than about the stoppage of vaccinations a year before the Measles outbreak that killed children, and uses trump's own playbook to deflect responsiblity.
The bottom line is that 85-88 children (the exact number is irrelevant), died needlessly because of a preventable disease. Just as irrelevant which man led the anti-vax parade that caused the deaths.

Watching trump's own playbook being used by others to deflect responsibility is not pretty to see.

51 minutes ago, FolkGuitar said:

Of course not! That was RFK Jr.
Your AI response is more about mislabeling Western Samoa geographically, than about the stoppage of vaccinations a year before the Measles outbreak that killed children, and uses trump's own playbook to deflect responsiblity.
The bottom line is that 85-88 children (the exact number is irrelevant), died needlessly because of a preventable disease. Just as irrelevant which man led the anti-vax parade that caused the deaths.

Watching trump's own playbook being used by others to deflect responsibility is not pretty to see.

But they weren't related to me, didn't add any value to my life ....... so why would I care?

PS. I don't use AI, it just repeats woke propaganda.

Edited June 27Jun 27 by BritManToo

There is reliable statistic that is fairly stable over time.

Essentially 100% of men who wear toupees are bald.

Isn't it clear therefore that toupees cause baldness?

I know there is clever sophistry from evil geniuses from the "Big Wig" conglomerates to explain this away, but it seems to be simple and clear.

Toupees cause baldness.

(For the literal minded this is written ironically. The point is Statistics need to be interpreted correctly to be understood.)

37 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

But they weren't related to me, didn't add any value to my life ....... so why would I care?

Wow. Just wow.
And there, my friends, goes humanity. No wonder the world is so screwed up these days. "Hey! It's not MY problem. It doesn't help ME, so <deleted> everyone else!"
Sorry, BritMan... that's just so wrong. You are certainly entitled to your views, but you are not a person that I'd want around my family.

Even Hegseth is reinstating automatic vaccinations for the military. All it took was for a few hundred soldiers to get sick for the reality to open his eyes.

Hey, reality is a bitch.

It's a shame that other anti-vaxers' eyes can't be so easily opened before more get sick or die, especially in closed social settings such as schools full of children.

Edited June 27Jun 27 by FolkGuitar

21 minutes ago, FolkGuitar said:

Wow. Just wow.
And there, my friends, goes humanity. No wonder the world is so screwed up these days. "Hey! It's not MY problem. It doesn't help ME, so <deleted> everyone else!"
Sorry, BritMan... that's just so wrong. You are certainly entitled to your views, but you are not a person that I'd want around my family.

Why would I want to be around your family?

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Why would I want to be around your family?

You wouldn't. We care about others. Even those who aren't in our family.

Can you imagine that? Remarkable, eh? Thinking and caring about others... What a radical idea for some people!

9 minutes ago, FolkGuitar said:

You wouldn't. We care about others. Even those who aren't in our family.

Can you imagine that? Remarkable, eh? Thinking and caring about others... What a radical idea for some people!

Thinking and caring about people of different races (that have no connection to you) is what put our civilization under threat of extinction.

You are the problem, not the answer!

Edited June 27Jun 27 by BritManToo

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Thinking and caring about people of different races (that have no connection to you) is what put our civilization under threat of extinction.

You are the problem, not the answer!

Frankly, I’m not surprised that you feel that way.

It’s become a common cry since trump took over “Screw everyone else, as long as I get what I want. “

Extinction? Go clutch your pearls somewhere else. We are not so delusional.

4 minutes ago, FolkGuitar said:

Frankly, I’m not surprised that you feel that way.

It’s become a common cry since trump took over “Screw everyone else, as long as I get what I want. “

Extinction? Go clutch your pearls somewhere else. We are not so delusional.

More of a don't care what happens to people that have no connection to me or my family.

But let's face it, you wokes only virtue signal, I bet you don't give half your income to the 3rd world, which should be mandatory for all people that claim 'they care'.

But here you are in Thailand, using your foreign financial power to sleep with local women, same as the rest of us.

Edited June 27Jun 27 by BritManToo