The last time I reported on the Texas measles outbreak, a school-age child had died and the mainstream media was asserting that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was downplaying the seriousness of the outbreak; yet, there was little such drama over the many measles cases during the Biden term.
Since then, the Texas State Department of Health Services (TSDHS) has reported 13 more measles cases, raising the total number of cases.
So far, 22 patients have been hospitalized, and the number of deaths remains at 1. The number of affected counties, located in the state’s South Plains area in the west, remains at nine, with most reported from Gaines County, which has been the outbreak epicenter.Of the 159 cases, 80 are unvaccinated and 74 have an unknown vaccination status. Five patients had received at least one dose of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services, has now issued a call to action for this outbreak. He emphasized the importance of vaccines and urged parents to consider vaccinating their children14. Kennedy stated that the outbreak is a “top priority”.
Key points of Kennedy’s call to action include encouraging parents to consult with healthcare providers about getting the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine and emphasizing that vaccines protect individual children and contribute to community immunity.
However, he supplemented the traditional vaccine-oriented approach with a recommendation to treat those infected using Vitamin A.
It is also our responsibility to provide up-to-date guidance on available therapeutic medications. While there is no approved antiviral for those who may be infected, CDC has recently updated their recommendation supporting administration of vitamin A under the supervision of a physician for those with mild, moderate, and severe infection.Studies have found that vitamin A can dramatically reduce measles mortality.
In fact, there is a great deal of research showing that Vitamin A can benefit those infected with measles.
The above was only some of the material from reputable science and medical publications on the subject. One statement in the journal Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice caught my eye.
Vitamin A deficiency in the United States is rare. It is much more common in low- and middle-income countries because individuals often have limited access to foods containing vitamin A from animal-based food sources and/or do not commonly consume fresh fruits and vegetables.
In the post on the death of the child in Texas, I noted that malnutrition was a significant risk factor for severe illness or death with measles infections. There is little information about the infected, but if they are the children of illegal immigrants or Americans who can’t afford sky-high prices for fresh fruit and vegetables, that Vitamin A supplementation may be critical.
Yet, The New York Times decided to mock Kennedy’s vitamin recommendation by referencing “cod liver oil” and finding a medical hack to support its inane take on the subject.
Texas doctors had seen “very, very good results,” Mr. Kennedy claimed, by treating measles cases with a steroid, budesonide; an antibiotic called clarithromycin; and cod liver oil, which he said had high levels of vitamin A and vitamin D.While physicians sometimes administer doses of vitamin A to treat children with severe measles cases, cod liver oil is “by no means” an evidence-based treatment, said Dr. Sean O’Leary, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases.
Hopefully, thanks to new media and Kennedy’s willingness to lay out all the options, parents can make fully informed decisions about vaccines and other options that could be helpful during a measles infection.
Perhaps with healthier Americans and fewer illegal immigrants, we can return to a time when measles is “eradicated”. However, that won’t be due to elite media’s sick reporting.
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