Whooping cough cases in Florida have soared this year, marking an 81% increase from 2024’s number.
As of Sept. 27, 2025, there have been 1,295 cases reported to the Florida Department of Health (DOH), compared to 715 cases for the entirety of 2024, according to the department’s Reportable Diseases Frequency Report.
They kinda did. 81% in the headline sounds like a lot. But once you read it, its really only a few hundred in population of over 23m. It should also be noted that in 2023, there was a total of 85 cases for the entire year. So the increase was far more dramatic between 2023 and 2024 than 2024 and 2025.
Good thing diseases don’t have the potential for exponential growth or anything like that.
Also, it isn’t like diseases spread like wildfire during the holidays in November and December or anything. Yup, those 2025 numbers are definitely final!
Phew!
I dont really know how this affects what I said. In 2023, the case count was 85. A year later, over 700. The implication by everyone is that this is because of Trump, RFKjr, and their being fucking morons when it comes to vaccines. But as you can see, the increase in cases started before either of them came to power. So implication that this is happening because of Trump and RFKjr is wrong.
The implication is that they will make things worse. Antivaxx bullshit was already a thing, they are just promoting it even more. People can’t undo the vaccinations that have already been done, but as more and more people choose not to vaccinate the cases will continue to increase.
It isn’t a magical on/off switch, which anyone who understands how vaccines work would know.
That may well be the case, but Im afraid that the implication is exactly as I stated. They are blaming Trump and RFKjr for this when, like you said, antivax bullshit was going on for years before they came to power. So the resolution isnt going to be getting them out of power. Its going to be much, MUCH harder than that.
It’s a tricky case…
Like you say, this a) predates the Trump admin and b) so far TDAP is still required to be in school even in Florida even after the upcoming set of dropped vaccine mandates, so even this disease isn’t the result nor wouldn’t be the result of even Florida’s aggressively lax vaccinne policies.
On the other hand, this shows how far out of hand things can get even without the government dropping mandates and actively restricting vaccinnes and stoking more vaccine hesitancy.
You are right that it wouldn’t fix things by itself, but it certainly greatly exacerbates the severity having the people in power aligned with vaccine hesitancy.
Youre right, they are a factor. I just dont like seeing people fool themselves into thinking that getting rid of them alone will solve the issues. The antivax movement is long in the tooth and need some serious addressing. People are still talking about vaccines and autism, even though that connection has been proven multiple times to be bullshit.
All Im really getting at is there isnt going to be a simple solution to this. Its not going to be as easy as getting rid of the orange man and worm, and all is right in the world.
Getting them out of power is part of the solution because the longer RFK Jr has the ability to destroy the national health care agencies the longer it will take to fix things.
It is like you are against cleaning and dressing a wound because it won’t heal it 100% instantly.
No, Im against over simplifying the solution to get worthless internet points.
The fact is, that theres a war of information. And because of people like you, that war is being lost. Far too many people only look for what fits their narrative, instead of what the actual truth is. Whether you realise it or not, you and those like you are advocating for stopping the bus at Trump and RFKjr. Which I am saying would be a mistake. They can be PART of the problem, but they are not THE problem.
Saying we need to do first aid doesn’t imply we shouldn’t do anything else later. That is just you adding a bunch of extra meaning that is neither present nor implied.
Most of the time I see a statistic in a headline, I assume it’s just trying to sensationalize the issue. And as my dad told me, most of the time you assume, you’re right.