New cases of measles are popping up across Florida, with 15 illnesses confirmed statewide, according to data from the Florida Department of Health.
But other cases, including 20 in Collier County and one in Pinellas County, don't show up on the department's website. It updates every Thursday, and by then the information is many days old. As of Monday, the case count ends Jan. 31.
"Weekly updates may be fine when you're not in an active outbreak," said Candace DiMatteis, vice president of policy and advocacy at the Partnership to Fight Infectious Diseases in Washington, D.C.
Other states, like Texas and South Carolina, have done better in communicating about measles cases and what to do, she said.
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"Information is power, and unfortunately, when trusted institutions don't share accurate, timely information, it allows misinformation to fill the vacuum, and unfortunately, people's health suffers as a result," said DiMatteis.
"Because people can act on that information. They can recognize if they've been exposed or a family member has been exposed. They can get vaccinated if they want. If they don't want to get vaccinated, they can quarantine, just to make sure they are then not spreading measles around."
Low immunization rates in Tampa Bay area
Florida's measles data appears on the Reportable Disease Frequency Report maintained by health department. That webpage says as part of a "modernization effort," the data is updated using the prior week's numbers.
This will "allow a four-day window of data quality work to ensure the most accurate data are published," the site reads.
Some local counties have immunization rates among school children that are far below the recommended 95% for herd immunity, including Sarasota, where the vaccination rate among school children is near the lowest in the state, 79.9%.
Democrats in the county are taking aim at the state’s Republican leadership. Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo says all vaccines should be voluntary.
"Their ideology right now, their political propaganda, is getting in the way of good practice. It's criminal that this totally preventable disease is on the rise again, and the only reason it is is because of bad politics," said Robin Williams, president of the Democratic Public Education Caucus of Manasota.
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Florida has the fifth most cases of measles in the nation so far this year, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy Research and Innovation Office (CIDRAP), at the University of Minnesota.
South Carolina has the most, with 592 confirmed cases, followed by Utah, Arizona, Washington and Florida.
Different messages from two states
Florida's advice for people who may have measles also differs from South Carolina's. Both states are led by Republican governors.
The Florida Department of Health urges people who may be exposed to "contact your health care provider or county health department" and "monitor for symptoms for 21 days after exposure." It says measles "can lead to serious complications like pneumonia or, rarely, brain swelling (encephalitis)," but does not mention vaccination as a way to prevent it, only under a section on "post-exposure protection."
South Carolina's Department of Health says "the measles vaccine (MMR and MMRV) is the best way to protect yourself and others against measles." It updates measles cases twice per week, and gives specifics about locations and times when a person with measles was present.
Most people — 97% according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — who were sickened with measles last year were unvaccinated.
"It's sad that it's become political in the sense that that may prevent people from protecting themselves or their family because they're hearing different political messages around vaccination or around measles itself," said DiMatteis.
"But the reality is, these viruses don't care. Their only job is to infect, multiply and spread, and that's what they're doing," she said.
