by - Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said that vitamin A can help with the outbreak of measles.
- Vitamin A is used worldwide to treat children with measles, but it does not prevent infections.
- Researchers have expressed concern that the prizes of vitamin A anti-vaccine reflects conversation points.
In his reaction to the outbreak of American measles, the new health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., raised eyebrows by praising vitamin A as possible treatment.
At least 146 people are sick and one child died of the disease, which spreads in West -Texas and New Mexico.
Kennedy, who opposes vaccine mandates, spoke the outbreak in an OP-ED for Fox News. Although he acknowledged that the MMR vaccine protects against the disease, he did not explicitly be vaccinated to Americans, Saying: “The decision to vaccinate is personal.”
Kennedy also said that the CDC has released new guidelines on the use of vitamin A As a possible treatment for measles, adding that a well -balanced diet “remains a best defense against most chronic and contagious diseases.” In a subsequent Fox News interview he suggested treating measles with liver oil, a supplement with a lot of vitamin A and vitamin D.
It was not going well with public health workers.
Vitamin A is often promoted by vaccin-skeptics, including the health defense of children, the anti-vaccine organization Kennedy was mainly challenged.
While vitamin A is A well -studied treatment for measles, doctors and researchers told Business Insider that there is no evidence that it can prevent the disease. They expressed their concern that the message from Kennedy can perpetuate a misconception that supplements can be an alternative to vaccinations.
“It’s not a strong explanation,” Andrea Love, an immunologist, told Business Insider. “Good nutrition and vitamin A will not stop measles outbreak.”
So, protects vitamin A against measles?
In some cases, vitamin A is used to treat patients with measles. Both the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend vitamin A to measles patients with vitamin deficiency by malnutrition.
Measles can exhaust the delivery of vitamin A of the body, and children who have a vitamin A deficiency run the risk of serious infections or complications such as high fever, blindness and even death.
Therapeutic doses vitamin A vary for measles vary between 15,000 to 60,000 micrograms Rae per dose – much higher than the recommended daily amount for vitamin A in your diet, which is between 700 to 900 micrograms Rae. Liver oil is not standard treatment for measles.
Vitamin A is administered less often for measles in the US where people tend to get too much vitamin A instead of getting too little.
It is crucial that dosing vitamin A supplements does not protect against a measles infection.
Christopher Sudfeld, a professor of food at the Harvard th Chan School of Public and the author of a study Kennedy in his FOX news-op-ed quoted soi that research supports the use of vitamin A to reduce the risk of complications of measles, that does not protect it against infection.
“The best intervention we have to prevent measles is vaccination. The MMR vaccine is safe and effective for preventing measles,” he said BI.
Vitamin A can be toxic
The use of vitamin A is an important point of conversation for proponents of anti-vaccine, who are champions as a protective measure, despite proof of the contrary.
That is why love, the immunologist, was frustrated by Kennedy’s Op-Ed. She thought that the resulting message could confuse readers who are already skeptical about vaccines.
“People who see this are going to pick up the things that resonate with their beliefs,” Love told BI. “The entire wellness industry and the landscape of pseudoscience play in the idea of taking control of your health.”
Love added that it is possible to overdose vitamin A. The nutrient is soluble in fat, which means that it can be built in the tissues over time. Too many can cause problems such as headache, fatigue, joint pain, liver damage and reduced bone density.
“My concern is that people start by mega -dosing vitamin A and we are going to see an increase in toxicity,” said Love.
The gold standard of protection against measles is widespread MMR vaccination to limit the spread of the highly contagious virus. An infected person can be contagious for days before they show symptoms, and their breath particles can stay in the air for hours.
“The most effective preventive measure is vaccination, which does not emphasize too much,” said Dr. Eduardo Villamor, a professor in epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, to Business Insider.