More and more people are becoming infected in the ongoing measles outbreak in West Texas, New Mexico and beyond, as more than 300 people have tested positive for the illness. The disease has killed one unvaccinated child in Texas and is suspected in the death of an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently said in a Fox News interview that the government is “delivering vitamin A” to West Texas to battle the outbreak, and “they’re getting very, very good results from budesonide, which is a steroid … and clarithromycin [an antibiotic], and also cod liver oil, which has high concentrations of vitamin A and vitamin D.”
He also promoted the use of vitamin A for measles treatment in a recent Fox News opinion piece.
While his statements refer to the treatment of measles in a medical setting, medical experts told HuffPost that they worry Kennedy’s focus on vitamin A and cod liver oil could encourage parents of unvaccinated children, or unvaccinated people themselves, to try supplementation as prevention or treatment at home — which is exactly what’s now happening in West Texas.
At a Texas children’s hospital, unvaccinated kids with severe cases of measles are also being treated for vitamin A toxicity, which suggests that the children were given the vitamin before hospitalization. There’s also increased demand for cod liver oil at local stores, according to Texas Public Radio.
Medical professionals are concerned that this vitamin A misinformation could continue to spread and result in people not understanding what’s actually best for measles treatment and prevention.
Here’s what medical experts want everyone to know:
Vitamin A is not an at-home treatment or prevention tool for measles, but RFK Jr.’s vitamin A thoughts do come from somewhere.
“Like much of what RFK says, there’s always a kernel of truth, which he sort of manipulates to legitimize the things he’s saying, which I know is a strong statement, but at this point I think it’s very important to say strong statements about it because if we are not clear in our responses, they easily get manipulated,” said Dr. Anita Patel, a pediatric critical care doctor in Washington, D.C.
This is evident in Kennedy’s claims about vitamin A, according to Patel.
“The kernel of truth is that he’s right. Vitamin A at very high doses — high doses that you would never administer by yourself at home — but high-dose vitamin A administered in the hospital has shown to reduce both mortality and duration and severity of [measles] illness,” Patel said.
“The lack of truth in the statement he made is that giving vitamin A in the form of cod liver oil as like a panacea for all the people in Texas … is unequivocally wrong,” Patel added.
Cod liver oil as a measles treatment has not been studied, said Joel Bervell, a recent medical graduate and medical myth-buster on social media.
“It’s not the same as vitamin A supplementation,” Bervell explained. “I think the reason why he was talking about cod oil in the first place was it has high levels of vitamin A, but the amount of vitamin A that’s in cod oil can vary widely, and relying on that instead of vaccines can be risky.”
Supplementation for children just generally can also be an issue.
“As a blanket statement, I would never give my kids cod liver oil because we know the supplement industry is not very well regulated,” Patel explained. “I don’t like giving my kids any supplements, because the truth is, you have no idea what’s in them.”
More, taking too much of any vitamin, including vitamin A, can lead to complications and toxicity, Bervell said. “It can cause … liver damage to fatigue to hair loss and headaches.” According to Texas Public Radio, the hospitalized children who are now being treated for vitamin A toxicity have abnormal liver function.
Vitamin A also can interact with other medications, which can lead to more problems, Patel said.
Bottom line: Vitamin A isn’t going to prevent someone from getting the measles, and it’s also not proven to help with symptoms for patients who aren’t hospitalized, according to Patel. Ingesting high amounts of vitamin A or cod liver oil can lead to real health issues.
“I hope RFK knows that what he says is what parents are going to do,” Bervell said. “If they’re believing that either vitamin A or cod oil is a replacement for vaccines, that’s going to do their children, and the rest of communities in these areas, more harm than good.”
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Here is what actually works when it comes to protecting yourself from the measles.
To protect yourself and your loved ones from measles, your best bet is to get the MMR vaccine if you haven’t already, Patel stressed. The typical guidance is for children to get the first dose of the two-dose shot at 12 months, but children as young as 6 months can get the vaccine.
“If you’re in any pocket of the country that has had a measles case, I would 100% get my child vaccinated early if they were over 6 months,” Patel said, adding that she also encourages people to get their kids the shots early if they are traveling internationally somewhere with measles cases.
While the second dose of the measles vaccine is typically given to children between 4 and 6 years old, you can also get their second dose early as long as it’s been at least 28 days since their first dose, Patel said.
“After the first dose, you’re 93% protected against the measles. After the second dose, you’re 97% protected,” she explained.
For adults who don’t know their vaccination status or older adults who could have waning measles protection, Patel recommended that you get your titers drawn. This is done via a blood test that measures antibody levels in your blood. You can talk to your primary care doctor about this option to get set up with a test. If your measles antibody levels are low, you can get another MMR shot for protection.
Medical experts think there needs to be a larger focus on vaccination by the current administration.
“In previous years when we see measles outbreaks, health officials have said we need to have an increase in public health information out there about why people need vaccinations,” Bervell said. “I haven’t seen that to the same degree with this administration.”
RFK Jr. continues to call vaccination a personal decision.
“We need to be making sure that we understand the importance of vaccines right now,” Bervell said, and added that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the Food and Drug Administration need to be more focused on putting accurate information out about why the measles vaccine, specifically, is important.
“They are preying upon parents’ fears and concerns about protecting their children, and instead of giving them evidence-based guidance, they’re just saying things, and they’re going to have real consequences to the children,” Patel said.
This story has been updated to reflect new reports of vitamin A toxicity in children in West Texas.