Some unvaccinated children hospitalized with measles had signs of vitamin A toxicity, a hospital in West Texas said in a late March statement, adding that patient reports said it was being used “for both treatment and prevention of measles.” And in Gaines County, in West Texas, the center of a measles outbreak, there has been a surge in demand for products rich in vitamin A, such as cod liver oil.
Vitamin A supplements will not protect someone from measles, and they are not a substitute for the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, vaccine, infectious-disease experts said. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are about 97 percent effective at protecting against a measles infection.
“We have a very safe and effective vaccine, and that’s really how you control a measles outbreak,” said Sean O’Leary, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and chair of the committee on infectious diseases for the American Academy of Pediatrics. “We want to stop measles before someone gets it.”
Brief vitamin A treatments can help children and adults who are already sick with measles, as studies have shown it can reduce the risk of serious complications and death in patients who are deficient in the vitamin, experts say. But too much vitamin A can be toxic and harm the liver.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on X on Sunday, “The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine.” However, Kennedy has also touted cod liver oil as a potential remedy for measles and said the federal government was sending a shipment of vitamin A to Texas in an interview on Fox News last month.
William Moss, a professor of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said that by promoting cod liver oil in response to the measles outbreak, Kennedy is downplaying the role of vaccination, “which is really the way to stop this outbreak.”
The Washington Post asked infectious-disease experts questions about vitamin A and how it has been used to help patients sick with measles.
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Can vitamin A help with measles?
There’s no antiviral treatment for measles. Doctors use doses of vitamin A as a supportive treatment in patients who are already sick with measles, experts said.
“It’s not a cure for measles, and it absolutely does not prevent measles,” said Claire Bocchini, a pediatric infectious-disease specialist at Texas Children’s Hospital. “We just know that if you have low amounts of vitamin A in your body and you get measles, that’s associated with much worse outcomes.”
Children deficient in vitamin A are at a higher risk of complications from the disease, experts said. And studies conducted in Africa and Asia have shown vitamin A supplementation can be beneficial for children who are sick with measles, Moss said.
“Vitamin A has a very diverse set of effects,” Moss said. “But it probably has something to do with its impact on the immune system and the impact on the cells that line the respiratory tract or the gastrointestinal tract.”
The World Health Organization recommends children and adults with measles receive two doses of vitamin A, 24 hours apart, because the supplements may reduce the risk of vision loss and mortality.
Vitamin A should be administered “under the supervision of a healthcare provider” as part of “supportive management” to reduce the likelihood of complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“There is a role for vitamin A in treating measles,” Moss said. “But it has to be done the right way.”
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How much vitamin A should I have per day?
The typical American diet has enough vitamin A, experts said. Vitamin A deficiency in the United States affects less than 1 percent of the population, according to a nutrition report from the CDC.
The recommended dietary allowance is 900 micrograms for a man and 700 micrograms for a woman per day, on average. And the daily recommended amounts are lower for teenagers and children.
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble nutrient that’s stored in the liver. The vitamin helps with the function of barriers in the gut and lungs and affects the immune system, said Adam Ratner, the director of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at New York University Grossman School of Medicine.
But more of the nutrient is not necessarily better, experts said.
“I think people hear vitamin and they think it’s just something that’s safe,” Ratner said. “We need vitamin A in our diet, of course, but it is relatively easy to get vitamin A toxicity, and that is something I worry about.”
There are two types of vitamin A in our diet, Bocchini said. One form comes from leafy green and orange vegetables such as spinach and carrots. When the body metabolizes this vitamin A, it can regulate how much is utilized, she said.
The other form of vitamin A comes from animal products such as egg yolk, dairy, fish or meat. And “you can overdose much more easily with that form of vitamin A,” Bocchini said.
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Can you overdose on vitamin A?
High doses of vitamin A supplements can be toxic and potentially lead to liver failure and death. In pregnant people, overconsumption can lead to birth defects, Bocchini said.
Too much vitamin A can lead to nausea, vomiting, headaches, dizziness and blurred vision. And chronic toxicity can cause liver damage and joint pain.
“You can, pretty easily, get vitamin A toxicity if you take either doses that are too high or doses that are reasonable but you give them for too long,” Ratner said.
A dose of more than 200,000 micrograms of vitamin A can cause symptoms, and more than 3,000 micrograms of the supplement taken daily can lead to long-term issues, according to Mayo Clinic.
The Council for Responsible Nutrition, the trade association for the dietary supplements industry, said in a statement last week that vitamin A is not a substitute for vaccination.
“While vitamin A plays an important role in supporting overall immune function, research hasn’t established its effectiveness in preventing measles infection,” the statement read.
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Where are measles cases in the U.S.?
On Friday, the CDC reported 607 confirmed measles cases in 21 states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Washington.
Two children have died of measles, both in Texas. The first child died in Lubbock in February. The second child died Thursday, state health authorities said. Both children were unvaccinated, authorities have said.
Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease that spreads through droplets from a cough or sneeze. The virus infects the respiratory tract and symptoms typically begin a week or two after a person is exposed to the virus. At first, patients have a high fever, runny nose, cough and red, watery eyes. Then, a red blotchy rash starts to develop on the face and neck and spreads over the body.
Complications from a measles infection can lead to bacterial infections, blindness, brain swelling, severe diarrhea, ear infections and trouble breathing.
The two-dose measles vaccine is the best defense against the virus, experts said. Here’s how to find your vaccination record.
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Lena H. Sun and Fenit Nirappil contributed to this report.
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Video: Public health reporter Fenit Nirappil traveled to the epicenter of the measles outbreak in West Texas to learn what is behind the rise in cases of a disease once thought eradicated in the U.S.(c) 2025 , The Washington Post
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