by I. Edwards
As a measles outbreak spreads throughout the U.S., docs are actually seeing a brand new and sudden hazard: kids getting sick from taking an excessive amount of vitamin A.
At Covenant Kids’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, a number of unvaccinated kids confirmed indicators of liver issues after taking massive quantities of vitamin A, in response to Dr. Lara Johnson, the hospital’s chief medical officer.
U.S. Division of Well being and Human Companies Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promoted vitamin A in the course of the outbreak, even suggesting it’d assist stop measles. However docs say this is not true.
“If people have the mistaken impression that you have an either-or choice of MMR vaccine or vitamin A, you’re going to get a lot of kids unnecessarily infected with measles. That’s a problem, especially during an epidemic,” Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Kids’s Hospital Middle for Vaccine Improvement and dean of the Nationwide College of Tropical Medication at Baylor Faculty of Medication, informed CNN. “And second, you have this unregulated medicine in terms of doses being given and potential toxicities.”
The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is the one confirmed solution to stop measles. It’s 97% efficient after two doses. Kennedy has mentioned he encourages vaccines, however considers vaccination a private alternative.
Vitamin A will be useful for individuals with measles when given the precise dose by a physician. However taking an excessive amount of, particularly with out medical supervision, will be harmful.
Vitamin A is fat-soluble and may construct up within the physique. This may result in dry pores and skin, blurry imaginative and prescient, bone issues and liver injury. In pregnant girls, it might even trigger start defects.
Dr. Lesley Motheral, a pediatrician in Lubbock, mentioned youngsters in Texas are usually well-nourished and do not want additional vitamin A.
“Recovery for patients with acute toxicity can be rapid when the vitamin is discontinued,” Motheral mentioned. “Sadly, some of the more serious problems with vitamin A toxicity are not always reversible.”
The Council for Accountable Diet (CRN), a gaggle representing complement makers, additionally warned dad and mom to not give their kids excessive doses of vitamin A.
“While vitamin A plays an important role in supporting overall immune function, research hasn’t established its effectiveness in preventing measles infection. CRN is concerned about reports of high-dose vitamin A being used inappropriately, especially in children,” it mentioned in a press release.
Johnson mentioned some dad and mom could also be following questionable recommendation from social media or well being influencers.
“It’s coming out of the health and wellness … influencer industry that downplays the importance of vaccines and tries to promote various spectacular cures like ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine or vitamin A,” Hotez added.
The measles outbreak has now affected at the least 378 individuals in 17 states, from Texas and New Mexico to Vermont, New York and Washington.
Extra info:
The Mayo Clinic has extra on measles, together with signs and causes.
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Measles outbreak results in harmful vitamin A toxicity (2025, March 28)
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