This article might be upsetting to parents with children.
West Texas is currently experiencing a measles outbreak that has persisted for several weeks and, due to misinformation propagated by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., it is now contending with another related health issue: Vitamin A toxicity — known as hypervitaminosis A — in infants and children.
This predicament seems to stem directly from false medical claims promoted by the vaccine-skeptical secretary himself.
Kennedy recently stated that while the measles vaccine is the most effective protection against the highly infectious and potentially deadly illness, he stressed that vaccination was a “personal choice.”
Kennedy, appointed by President Donald Trump as the nation’s leading health advisor, suggested that “vitamin A can significantly lessen measles mortality,” or even stave off measles infections.
He recently instructed the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to revise measles guidelines to encourage vitamin A use in combating the illness.
In early March, Thomas Corry, the CDC’s chief communications officer, cited Kennedy’s sluggish response to the West Texas outbreak and his adoption of so-called “alternative treatment for measles” as the reason for his resignation.
Numerous other officials from the CDC and HHS have resigned since Kennedy’s appointment, and more health workers — at least 10,000 — have been adversely affected by Elon Musk’s budget cuts.
Overall, HHS has seen a reduction of a quarter of its workforce.
Are West Texas anti-vax parents endangering their kids with Kennedy’s poor advice?
Although Kennedy and the CDC stipulate that vitamin A should only be consumed with a physician’s guidance, some parents in West Texas are reportedly administering it in such excessive amounts that their children are being taken to hospital emergency rooms.
Among other treatments, Kennedy has claimed that cod liver oil, abundant in vitamins A and D, effectively “works” against measles.
While vitamin A may be provided to measles patients experiencing vitamin A deficiencies due to malnutrition, there is no substantiated evidence that it can prevent measles.
Moreover, it is known that overconsumption of cod liver oil can lead to severe health complications, yet demand for it has surged in West Texas, with local pharmacies noting, “it’s flying off the shelf.”
Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, reported treating “fewer than 10 cases” of vitamin A toxicity in recent weeks. Hospital officials noted that the children had initially been admitted with measles symptoms but were later discovered to have liver dysfunction caused by vitamin A toxicity.
Doctors at Covenant are openly cautioning against high vitamin A consumption, stating that it can result in serious side effects such as dry skin, vision impairment, bone issues, and liver failure.
Vaccines are the only validated prevention against measles
The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) disclosed on Friday that it had registered 481 measles cases since January. As of April 4, the nationwide measles cases numbered 607, according to the CDC.
Measles — a highly transmissible respiratory disease that spreads when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or speaks, as well as when individuals touch their mouth, eyes, or nose after coming into contact with infected surfaces — was declared eliminated in the US in 2000 due to extensive mass-vaccination efforts over the years.
The CDC maintains that the only reliably proven method for preventing measles is the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine, which has a 97% efficacy rate.
In February, the Texas DSHS confirmed the death of a “school-aged child who was not vaccinated” and who had “tested positive for measles” upon hospitalization.
This marked the first confirmed measles death in the US since 2015.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery
