There certainly is evidence (see the link I posted elsewhere in this thread about the body in the plague pit) that disease was sometimes blamed on vampirism, but the water and garlic things are in no way universal. Honestly, the only universal thing I can tell applies to all vampires is ‘drains you of something essential to your life.’ It’s not even always a human creature or drinking blood- although I suppose you could argue that such things aren’t vampires- but there doesn’t seem to be any one set of things that repel a vampire or end its attacks.