Baby dies from whooping cough in Florida

http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/baby-dies-whooping-cough-orange-co/nXXqP/

April 25, 2013

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —

Orange County health officials said a baby died from whooping cough last week.

This is the first whooping cough death the county has seen in decades. Officials said it's been at least 20 years or more since someone died of the disease.

Whooping cough, also called pertussis, and other diseases are making comebacks, because so many parents are deciding not to vaccinate their kids.

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Officials said the family chose not to vaccinate their child. Some parents are choosing not to fully vaccinate their children because they worry there is a link between the vaccinations and autism.

"A lot of people may not know (that) even the person who did that study admitted that study was flawed," Weister said.

Health officials said that has caused vaccinations to drop and the number of cases of measles, pertussis and other preventable diseases to go up.

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Health officials believe the baby that died caught whooping cough from an adult.