[hckr1292]

Those are two separate questions: (1) what is the leading cause of death and (2) which disease is most deadly and/or transmissible.

If the author of this opinion piece is correct, it could well be that vaccination is keeping the most deadly disease from causing the most deaths.

Another way this could happen would be if measles killed people so fast they couldn't infect others, although I've never heard anyone make this claim.

Although I don't think the argument is compelling, it is a great question: is there some other reason that measles isn't killing as many people as it used, other than vaccination? To answer that question, we do need scientific research not logic.

[wmboy]

Exactly...correlation does not imply causation. Better sanitation, access to clean water, access to better medication and healthcare could also be related