The Deadly Cost of Vaccine Misinformation

As whooping cough surges across the U.S., public health experts are sounding the alarm — and for good reason. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports over 8,400 cases of pertussis so far in 2025, double the number from this time last year. Tragically, young children are dying from a disease that is easily preventable with vaccines.

Yet Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., a conspiracy theorist and longtime anti-vaccine activist, now leads the Department of Health & Human Services. Instead of promoting vaccines — our most effective defense against diseases like whooping cough — he’s stayed silent, even as vaccination rates among children continue to drop.

Doctors are seeing the consequences firsthand. Vaccine exemptions are at an all-time high. In some communities, school vaccination rates have dipped below 30%, far below the 95% needed for herd immunity. That’s left vulnerable groups, especially infants, exposed.

The pertussis vaccine is part of routine childhood immunizations and is also recommended during pregnancy to protect newborns. But uptake is lagging, and public health officials are stretched thin, trying to contain multiple outbreaks with limited resources.

The rise in preventable illnesses like pertussis and measles is a warning — not just about disease, but about leadership. When those in charge cast doubt on science, public health suffers.

The data is clear. The consequences are real. And the cost of inaction is measured in lives.

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