The rhetoric of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Director of Health and Human Services on the outbreak of measles in Texas, is about doctors who fear that his public guidance is misguided and that it is dangerous to promote vitamins and steroids as a way to treat infections.
The Texas Department of State Health Department (TDSHS) says 159 measles cases have been identified, including one unvaccinated child who died last week shortly after hospitalization.
Only five of the infected individuals have been confirmed to have been vaccinated from measles. State doctors are urging parents to isolate their children and ensure that all members of the household receive the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine to alleviate spreads.
Approximately 80% of cases of measles in Texas have been found in children.
Kennedy has long questioned the safety and efficacy of vaccines, particularly MMR vaccines.
Facing the outbreak, he seemed to soften his stance; Fox News Op-Ed He argued that vaccinations should be a personal choice, as well as protecting individual children from measles.
At the same time, Kennedy began promoting the use of vitamin A, cod liver oil and steroid budesonide as a treatment for measles. The Measles Management Center (CDC) will update guidance on measles management, including “vitamin A, not managed by physicians.”
There are no antiviral agents specifically shown for measles. Most of the time, it's resolved at home with your own rest. Those hospitalized for measles will receive supportive care until they recover.
HHS did not respond to requests for comment regarding Kennedy's promotion of vitamin A, cod liver oil and budesonide to treat measles.
For vitamin A
Kennedy's Vitamin A encouragement for measles children is not completely baseless. It has long been observed that vitamin A deficiency, coupled with measles infection, can be devastating for children.
“In environments where many children suffer from vitamin A deficiency, and environments where vitamin A is given to children with measles can save lives and prevent complications,” a professor of pediatrics and medicine at the University of Utah told Hill.
However, if you don't have vitamin A deficiency, the prescription may not help people with measles.
“There is no evidence that vitamin A supplementation improves measles outcomes in children without vitamin A deficiency in the United States,” according to Susan McClellan, a professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases at the University of Texas Medical Department.
“The relative protective effect of vitamin A compared to immunity is very small in a nonvitamin inadequate population,” McClellan added.
Pavia also expressed concern that Kennedy is misrepresenting that additional vitamins can be produced for measles patients.
“What Kennedy suggests is Vitamin A is a treatment that prevents measles complications, and I don't think it's that likely to make a difference in the US,” Pavia said.
“He also speculates that it will be a preventative therapy and there is absolutely no evidence that taking extra vitamin A prevents measles from developing. Only the vaccine does it or it's been infected before.”
The updated CDC guidance advises that vitamin A should be administered “right after diagnosis and repeated the next day with a total of two doses.”
At his manipulation, Kennedy pointed to a. 2010 Analysis This reduced measles mortality rate after two doses of vitamin A by 62%.
Several studies cited in the analysis focused on more common African countries where vitamin A-deficient populations are like Tanzania, Guinea Bissau and South Africa.
Highly Risky Recommendations
In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Kennedy said: “They're getting very good results. They report from the steroid budesonide. They have a 30-year-old steroid, clarithromycin and cod liver oil, with high levels of vitamin A and vitamin D.”
Pavia said taking cod liver while infected with measles “doesn't hurt,” but pushed back Kennedy's apparent support for budesonide and clarithromycin to treat measles, saying the drugs offer little benefit while adding unnecessary risks.
“It's not only based on science and good evidence, but also a good reason why it might work, but it's potentially dangerous,” Pavia said.
One of the biggest problems with measles is that it caused damage to the immune system after it recovered. This is what is called immune amnesia. “So giving steroids will only further reduce your immune system to combat future infections.”
Hill reached for TDSHS to see if budesonide was deployed to treat measles patients in Texas.
Regarding clarithromycin, Pavia pointed out that one of the potential side effects is “severe GI pain” without providing additional benefits to treating the virus.
What doctors want the public to know
McClellan is one of the few doctors who can say he has encountered a debilitating measles outbreak today, and they are one of the few doctors when he suffered one of the worst measles outbreaks in history in Los Angeles, one of the worst measles outbreaks, with over 16,000 reported cases and 75 deaths.
Like other physicians, McClellan highlighted the critical need for a full two-dose administration of the MMR vaccine, pushing back the notion that one dose is sufficient.
“People keep talking, 'Oh, your first dose will protect you by 90%, and the second dose will make you 98%.' That's not how it works,” McClellan said. “One in ten people don't respond well when they take MMR vaccine doses, especially at early childhood age.”
“That's why you need a second dose to think someone is fully vaccinated. Once you get the second dose, there's a 97-98% chance that you're fully protected,” she added.
In Pavia's view, the situation in Texas “sliding its ability to contain easily.”
“We're talking about the containment of slips like outbreaks, like it happened in Ebola in West Africa. At some point, it gets really big and containment is very difficult. I think we hit that point in Texas with measles,” he said.
While most reports focus on children, Pavia added that unvaccinated adults who have never been infected with measles are also at risk of developing severe illness, which could lead to miscarriage and early work when expecting a mother.
McClellan “absolutely breaks my heart,” when asked how McClellan feels she's been witnessing decades of measles outbreak since this level of measles was considered to have been eradicated.
“My heart breaks for the children and families who have passed away,” she said. “I also realize that this is one of the sad things to see. Perhaps the reduced volume of community, the feeling of community support that helps you what I'm doing.”
