Parents followed RFK Jr’s vitamin A remedy for measles; Here's what happened next

The United States of America is seeing the most extensive and worst measles outbreak in 25 years, and it’s nowhere near slowing down. While getting the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine is highly effective in preventing measles, with two doses offering about 97% protection, unvaccinated children with measles are experiencing complications due to an alternative treatment promoted by none other than the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services - RFK Jr. - an anti-vaxxer, who is in charge of the nation's healthcare.
Not just that, RFK Jr. has also promoted ‘overuse’ of vitamin A, touting it as an "almost miraculous and instantaneous recovery" for people infected with measles.

Unlike the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which is 97% effective after two doses, most scientific evidence surrounding Vitamin A and measles suggests only that it's useful in reducing mortality rather than infection. As such, it's often administered in low, age-appropriate doses to children hospitalized with the communicable disease. However, virtually all doctors insist that it should be used in tandem with - and NOT as an alternative to vaccination.

But that distinction certainly hasn’t stopped RFK Jr., the former head of an anti-vaccination nonprofit, from promoting the supplement as providing an "almost miraculous and instantaneous recovery" for people infected with measles during a Fox News interview he gave after the outbreak began.
As per an NBC affiliate in Philadelphia, those vitamin A remedy comments were repeated in at least four other Fox segments aired on a single day, March 4 — and it seems that the vaccine-skeptical parents in the West Texas community where the outbreak began heard him loud and clear.
According to Katherine Wells, the director of public health in Lubbock, Texas, a town near the center of the outbreak, "I did not hear anything about Vitamin A until he said it on television.”

As reported by the New York Times, overuse of vitamin A, alongside cod liver oil, which contains the same vitamin, has led to liver damage and yellowed skin in children infected with measles.
As it is only justifiable, the HHS secretary’s endorsement of vitamin A has also translated to a belief that taking it preventively can help protect children from infection.

As the NYT notes, taking too much Vitamin A is especially dangerous because, unlike other vitamins, it stays stored in the fat and isn't flushed out in the urine. Ultimately, overuse can lead to Vitamin A toxicity, which can cause everything from headaches and nausea to the yellow-hued skin and liver issues doctors are seeing in their unvaccinated patients.
Summer Davies, a Lubbock pediatrician who's been treating children with measles since the outbreak began in the nearby Gaines County, mentioned, "I had a patient that was only sick a couple of days, four or five days, but had been taking it for like three weeks.”

Yes, RFK Jr. has somewhat softened his strident anti-vaccination stance in the face of the outbreak. However, the HHS secretary has continued to push alternative treatments. In fact, he has gone so far as to send doses of Vitamin A supplements to Texas as a half-baked response to the outbreak that has thus far claimed the life of one child and led to dozens of hospitalizations.

While vitamin A deficiency is a recognized risk factor (by WHO) for severe measles, the World Health Organization recommends a daily oral dose of vitamin A for two days to children with measles living in areas where vitamin A deficiency may be present.
However, after the health secretary began pushing cod liver oil and Vitamin A, doctors took to media outlets to warn against their over-usage and to promote the MMR vaccine. Still, those warnings seem to have fallen flat among the vaccine-skeptical in West Texas, whose children are getting sick — and in at least one case, dying — from the disease that was, until recently, eradicated in the US.
Lara Johnson, another doctor in Lubbock, when speaking to the NYT, explained, "That kind of preventative use, I think, is especially concerning. When we have kids taking it for weeks and weeks, then you do potentially have a cumulative impact of the toxicity."

Measles, also known as rubeola, is a highly contagious viral illness characterized by a distinctive rash and high fever. It spreads easily through breathing, coughing, or sneezing. According to the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, the measles virus resides in the nose and throat mucus of an infected person.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the most effective way to protect against measles is through the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

Key points:
Transmission: Measles is a viral infection that can lead to serious complications, particularly in babies and young children. The virus spreads easily when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes, releasing infectious droplets into the air that others can inhale.
Symptoms: Common symptoms of measles include a high fever, cough, runny nose, and a characteristic rash that usually starts on the face and spreads to the rest of the body.
Prevention: Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent measles. The World Health Organization (WHO) notes that vaccinating against measles has significantly reduced the number of measles-related deaths worldwide.
Receiving two doses of the MMR vaccine provides 97% effectiveness in preventing measles for life, while one dose offers about 93% protection. The CDC emphasizes that when over 95% of a community is vaccinated, the majority of individuals benefit from community immunity.
Although measles is one of the most contagious diseases and can lead to life-threatening complications across all age groups, it is especially more contagious and poses risks to both pregnant women and babies, especially unvaccinated ones, potentially leading to complications like premature birth and low birth weight.