JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
The measles outbreak in west Texas continues to grow. There are currently 159 reported cases. Twenty-two patients have been hospitalized, and a school-aged child has died. So has an unvaccinated adult just over the border in New Mexico. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. addressed the outbreak in an editorial for Fox News, and that's now posted on the HHS website. Kennedy says the CDC has sent vaccines and treatments to Texas, but his emphasis on vitamin A as a treatment for measles worries infectious disease doctors. NPR health correspondent Maria Godoy is here with more. Hi there.
MARIA GODOY, BYLINE: Hi.
SUMMERS: Maria, tell us about the op-ed. What did Kennedy have to say?
GODOY: So he acknowledged that measles is highly contagious, that it poses health risks, especially to people who are not vaccinated. He said vaccines not only protect individual children from measles but also contribute to community immunity, which protects people who can't be vaccinated. But he didn't outright encourage people to get their children vaccinated, which is usually a key part of the public health response during an outbreak. He said the decision to vaccinate is a personal one. And he said good nutrition is the best defense against chronic and infectious diseases. And for measles, he said vitamin A can, quote, "dramatically reduce" deaths from the disease.
SUMMERS: Well, tell us. Can it? Can vitamin A treat measles?
GODOY: Well, so there's some truth here. There's evidence from studies done in low- and middle-income countries that shows that giving vitamin A to malnourished children who have measles can reduce the risk of severe disease and death. There's less evidence in the U.S. Vitamin A deficiency isn't common here. And thanks to vaccines, measles deaths are rare.
Now, the American Academy of Pediatrics does recommend two doses of vitamin A for children who have the disease, especially if they're so sick they're hospitalized. But vitamin A does not prevent measles, and there's a lot of misinformation out there that suggests it does. Here's Dr. Adam Ratner. He's a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Infectious Diseases Committee.
ADAM RATNER: What is circulating online now are people who are giving vitamin A at high doses over long periods of time to try to prevent children from getting measles, and that can be quite dangerous.
GODOY: You know, Ratner says vitamin A can build up in the body and can be toxic to the liver. And, you know, in another interview with Fox News, Kennedy said that doctors in Texas are getting good results from cod liver oil.
SUMMERS: Really? Cod liver oil?
GODOY: Well, that's what Kennedy said. We have not confirmed cod liver oil is being used in the Texas outbreak. It is high in vitamin A, but doctors tell me there's no evidence that cod liver oil can help treat measles. And because it's so high in vitamin A, you could end up giving your child potentially toxic amounts. I spoke with Dr. Amesh Adalja with the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. He wanted Kennedy to emphasize vaccines to prevent measles rather than supplements to treat it.
AMESH ADALJA: I think mentions of cod liver oil and vitamin A is just distracting people away from what the single message should be, which is increase the vaccination rate, and then you don't even have to think about treatment. Because when it comes to an infectious disease, prevention is always better than treatment.
GODOY: Other doctors I spoke with agree that the main message, especially during an outbreak, should be get vaccinated.
SUMMERS: NPR health correspondent Maria Godoy. Thank you.
GODOY: My pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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