
Measles: Instead of vaccines, RFK Jr. focuses on unconventional treatments, driving worries about misinformation
CNNCNN — 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. 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. However, vitamin A is most useful for measles support in patients who have a specific deficiency. “It’s really important not to conflate what … supportive or adjunctive care for measles versus curative treatment for measles,” said Dr. Christina Johns, a pediatric emergency physician at PM Pediatrics in Annapolis, Maryland. “Vitamin A is only recommended in hospitalized patients, and it’s only recommended at specific doses,” said Dr. Leslie Motheral, a pediatrician in Lubbock, Texas, where the measles outbreak is growing.
History of this topic

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