Instead of vaccines, RFK Jr. focuses on unconventional measles treatments, driving worries about misinformation
CNN
As a measles outbreak in West Texas continues to grow, the response from US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has leaned heavily on treatment with vitamin A, as well as “good results” from the use of the steroid budesonide, the antibiotic clarithromycin and cod liver oil.
As a measles outbreak in West Texas continues to grow, the response from US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has leaned heavily on treatment with vitamin A, as well as “good results” from the use of the steroid budesonide, the antibiotic clarithromycin and cod liver oil. Doctors say that this messaging might take away from efforts to increase vaccination, and some misinformation about these therapies is already circulating online. Many US doctors have never seen measles, given that the virus was declared eliminated in the country in 2000. There are no antiviral medications specifically to treat measles infection. “Vitamin A is not a substitute for vaccination,” said Dr. Megan Ranney, dean of the Yale School of Public Health. Vitamin A is important for vision and immunity. The World Health Organization recommends two doses for all children and adults who are diagnosed with measles. Guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also says vitamin A should be given to children with severe measles, such as those who are hospitalized, and specifies doses based on age. In an opinion piece published Sunday on Fox News, Kennedy referenced studies that show that vitamin A can “dramatically reduce measles mortality.” Speaking to Fox News on Tuesday, Kennedy described how CDC has been on the ground in West Texas and discussed the use of cod liver oil, which has high amounts of vitamins A and D.
