USA TODAY NETWORK – 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.
This increase in whooping cough diagnoses has pediatricians worried for children who are too young to be vaccinated or unvaccinated children, who are the most at risk, especially at a time when state leaders have expressed their intent to walk back vaccination requirements in Florida.
“We are setting up a cesspool of germs for our kids to walk into,” Dr. Tara Williams, a general academic pediatrician with the Orlando College of Osteopathic Medicine, told the USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida.
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious respiratory infection, especially dangerous for infants and young children, who can suffer severe complications such as pneumonia, seizures, brain damage, or even death. Even in older children and adults, it can cause prolonged coughing fits that lead to rib fractures, vomiting, or disrupted sleep.
Rising reported cases are a concern because they signal waning immunity, gaps in vaccination coverage, or increased community spread, all of which put vulnerable populations at higher risk.
“Vaccination is the most effective protection against whooping cough.”
It’s pushed Florida pediatricians to attempt to create their own alert system to notify each other across the state when there is an infectious disease outbreak.
To prevent pertussis, there is a series of five vaccinations given from 2 months to the age of 4 to 6. Even those with one vaccine will still have partial protection, with less severe outcomes.
Dr. Mobeen Rathore, chief of infectious diseases and immunology for Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, said he has seen a rise in whooping cough in adolescents and young adults this year.
According to DOH data, 63% of cases are of children 0-9 years of age …
