A second confirmed death in a measles outbreak in western Texas. An unvaccinated adult who tested positive for the virus across New Mexico’s borders was tested positive.
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Two people have now died from growing measles outbreaks in West Texas and New Mexico.
New Mexico health officials confirmed the deaths of an unvaccinated adult who tested positive for measles on Thursday. His first death was a school-age child from Gaines County, Texas last week.
The second news of the death comes as infectious disease doctors worry that the federal message on the outbreak focuses on treatments like vitamin A, despite misinformation spreading online about some of these treatments.
These concerns are addressing the increase in measles outbreak in a Fox News editorial released Sunday, sparking recent comments by Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy. Posted on the HHS website.
While referring to the value of vaccination against community immunization, Kennedy said “the decision to receive vaccinations is personal.” He highlighted the treatment of measles, saying Vitamin A can “dramatically” reduce deaths caused by illness. in Interview with Fox News On Tuesday, he said a Texas doctor gave measles patients steroids and cod liver oil, “it’s got very, very good results.”
In his editorial, he said that good nutrition is “the best defense against most chronic and infectious diseases.”
The focus on nutrition and vitamin A to treat measles is about some infectious disease doctors.
“Cod liver oil and vitamins mentioned [are] It just diverts people from what a single message should be, increasing vaccination rates.” Dr. Amesh Adalja, He is an infectious disease physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security Center.
Vitamin A can play a role in preventing severe illnesses, but the vitamin debate does not replace the fact that measles is a preventable disease. In fact, the way to deal with the outbreak of measles is to vaccinate people against measles.” Dr. Adam Ratner, He is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Infectious Diseases Committee.
Kennedy acknowledged that measles are highly contagious and poses health risks, especially for those who have not been vaccinated. He said the vaccine not only protects individual children from measles, but also protects people who are unable to receive the vaccine. However, he did not strongly encourage people to vaccinate their children. This is usually an important part of the public health response during an outbreak.
In 2019, when the measles outbreak roared in the United States, then-Health Secretary Alex Hazard issued a statement that strongly supported the risks of vaccination and strongly supported the warning.
Regarding vitamin A, a study conducted decades ago in low- and middle-income countries found that vitamins can reduce the risk of severe illness and death in children who are malnourished and have vitamin defects, Adarja says.
There is also evidence that measles appears to deplete the body’s storehouse of vitamin A, even in the absence of existing deficiencies. World Health Organization And the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends giving children who suffer from the disease twice Vitamin A, especially if they are sick.
However, Ratner emphasizes that it is not the case with Vitamin A prevent measles.
The false idea that circulates online is that giving children high doses over a long period of time can prevent measles, says Ratner. He says that it’s not only wrong, it can be very dangerous.
“Vitamin A can accumulate in the body,” he says. “It can be toxic to the liver. It can have unwanted effects in children,” including liver damage, fatigue, hair loss, headaches, etc. Ratner works as a pediatric infectious disease specialist in New York City. He says similar misinformation about vitamin A made a round during the 2019 city measles outbreak.
Scott Weaver, Director of the Institute of Human Infectious Diseases and Immunology At the University of Texas Medical Chapter, people looked at bottles of vitamins and said, “Well, if you take this amount two or three times, you’ll be even more protected from measles.“
“I’m worried that people think that vitamin A or other nutrients are an alternative to vaccinations to prevent infection and prevent spread,” Weaver says.
In an interview with his Fox News, Kennedy said that Texas doctors have “really, very good results” with a mix of treatments like steroids and cod liver oil. NPR has not confirmed the use of cod liver oil in Texas, but Adalja says there is no data that says cod liver oil will benefit measles.
And because cod liver oil is very high in vitamin A, ratners cause parents to give too much of their child – a potentially toxic amount.
Adalja would have hoped that Kennedy would emphasize that the vaccine is the best defense against measles.
“And then you don’t even have to think about treatment, because prevention is always better than treatment when it comes to infectious diseases,” he says.
NPR contacted the Department of Health and Human Services for comment but received no response.
Edited by Jane Greenhalgh and Carmel Wroth
