Whooping cough cases soar in Florida as pediatricians worry about vaccine rollback
www.tallahassee.com
Whooping cough cases in Florida have soared this year, marking an 81% increase from 2024's number.

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.

  • jj4211@lemmy.worldEnglish
    20·
    3 days ago

    I’m a bit torn on this reporting…

    On the one hand I’m totally with them on using this as a cautionary tale about vaccine hesitancy and how the administration policies dangerously exacerbate that phenomenon, and a rough indicator of what the consequences may look like.

    On the other hand, the headline makes it sound like the Florida rollback has caused this, but that isn’t strictly true because:

    • The Florida rollback hasn’t happened yet
    • The rollback doesn’t include whooping cough (pertussis):

    All other vaccinations required under Florida law to attend school “remain in place, unless updated through legislation,” including vaccines for measles, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, mumps and tetanus, the department said.

    • lunaluster@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      3 days ago

      The headline uses the word “amid,” which is not specifically causative. But announcements have already been made, and the governor has insisted on moving ahead to eliminate vaccination requirements. People don’t need a hard line to follow through on their personal choices to endanger others. They have essentially been given the green light, and they can excuse it in the meantime with “religious beliefs.”

    • candyman337@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      3 days ago

      I’m always for the integrity of journalism because the lack thereof is part of the reason we’re where we are today. A more accurate but eaqually as cautionary of a headline would be “Whooping cough cases on the rise in Florida as vaccine skepticism is legally supported by the states lawmakers” or something like that