This article may be potentially distressing to parents with children.
West Texas has been gripped by a outbreak for the past several weeks and as a result of misinformation passed on by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., it now faces a second, related health problem: Vitamin A toxicity — or hypervitaminosis A — in infants and children.
The situation appears to be the direct result of bogus medical information pedaled by the vaccine-skeptic secretary himself.
Kennedy recently said that although the measles vaccine is the best defense against the highly contagious and potentially fatal infection, he emphasized that getting inoculated was a “personal choice.”
Kennedy, whom President Donald Trump appointed to be the nation’s top health advisor, suggested, “vitamin A can dramatically reduce measles mortality,” or even prevent measles infections.
Kennedy recently directed the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to update measles guidance to promote vitamin A use in fighting the infection.
In early March, the CDC’s top communications officer, Thomas Corry, cited Kennedy’s slow response to the West Texas outbreak and his embrace of so-called “alternative measles treatment,” as the reason for his resignation.
Numerous other CDC and HHS officials have resigned since Kennedy took over, more health workers still —so far at least 10,000 — have also fallen prey to Elon Musk’s cost-cutting measures.
In all, HHS has lost a quarter of its workforce.
West Texas anti-vax parents making their kids sick on Kennedy’s bad advice?
Though Kennedy and the CDC suggest vitamin A should only be taken under doctor’s supervision, West Texas parents are apparently giving their children so much of it that they are now being admitted to hospital emergency rooms.
Among other remedies, Kennedy has claimed that cod liver oil, which is rich in vitamins A and D, “works” as a treatment against measles.
Although vitamin A may be given to measles patients who suffer malnutrition-related vitamin A deficiencies, there is no evidence suggesting that it is effective in preventing measles.
And even though it is known that excessive cod liver oil consumption can have serious negative health consequences, demand for it has exploded in West Texas, with pharmacies saying, “it’s flying off the shelf.”
Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, has said it has treated “fewer than 10 cases” of vitamin A toxicity over the past couple of weeks. Administrators say the children were initially admitted with measles symptoms but later determined to have had abnormally functioning livers as a result of vitamin A toxicity.
Doctors at Covenant are publicly warning against excessive vitamin A intake, saying that it could lead to severe side effects such as dry skin, impaired sight, bone problems and liver failure.
Vaccines the only proven prevention against measles
The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) on Friday said that it had . The number of nationwide measles cases stood at 607 as of April 4, according to the CDC.
Measles — a highly contagious respiratory when an infected individual sneezes, coughs or speaks, as well as when people touch their eyes, nose or mouth after contact with a contaminated surface — was declared eliminated in the US in 2000 thanks to decades of sustained mass-vaccination campaigns.
According to the CDC, the , which boasts 97% efficacy.
In February, the Texas DSHS confirmed the death of a “school-age child who was not vaccinated” and who had “tested positive for measles” when she was hospitalized.
It was the first confirmed measles death in the US since 2015.
Edited by: Wesley Dockery
The post RFK Jr.’s measles ‘cure’ sickens Texas kids amid outbreak appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
