American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) We recommend vitamin A to all patients with measles – not only severe cases – but experts warn that this should not be considered an alternative to vaccination.
in The last opinion article to Fox NewsWritten Minister of Health Robert F. Kennedy Junior said that studies support the Vitamin A Department “under the supervision of a doctor for those who suffer from a mild, moderate and severe infection Reducing deaths Of the disease.
He also indicated that the Center for Disease Control was recently Her recommendation expanded To use vitamin A in all cases of measles, not just severe disease.
While Kennedy seemed to support measles vaccination in this opinion article – he wrote that vaccines “contribute to the immunity of society, and protect those who cannot vaccinate for medical reasons” – also note that the option of vaccination is a personal person.
Combated, experts raised concerns about a possible misinterpretation of Kennedy’s message: because since vitamin A is available, they do not need vaccination.
“Vitamin A is not an alternative at all and is not equivalent to MMR vaccination, which is the best way to prevent the child from obtaining measles,” said Erika Hayes, of the Philadelphia Children’s Hospital. MedPage today.
In fact, the measles vaccine, mumps and measles (MMR) is “one of the most effective and durable vaccines”, with a whole series of dose dose dose 97 % effective against measles.
Hayes said: “I think some people think,” well, then, if you, for example, take vitamin A, I will not get measles, or less vulnerable to class. “This is not the case at all.”
Many literatures about vitamin A and measles come from low and medium -income countries, as the deficiency may be a more problem. However, given that vitamin A deficiency can endanger the risk of worse results with measles – and most children have not been evaluated to the levels of vitamin A – the consensus of the American experts has settled on the vitamin administration in all cases.
Vitamin A “really plays an important role in maintaining a healthy immune system and supports immune cell function so that the body can fight infections such as measles.”
However, taking vitamin A will not prevent the child from obtaining measles in the first place, as Hayes said, and it can have a “large toxicity”, especially when taking it in high doses. “Just because you eat vitamin A or you have vitamin A, it does not guarantee that you will not have a situation … severe measles,” she added.
the Aap Red Book – Encyclopedia of infectious diseases for children- that American experts agree with the recommendations of the World Health Organization regarding giving vitamin A to all children with measles, and recommends that it be given once a day for two days in the following doses:
- 50,000 international infants under the age of 6
Hayes said: “Once again, if the child has measles, vitamin A must be prescribed under the supervision of a doctor to ensure his dose appropriately.”
However, both Hayes and Tan emphasized that vaccination is the only way to stop more measles outbreaks like the current current in West Texas, where 159 cases It has been identified since late January, with 22 hospitals and deaths – The first measles death in the United States Since 2015.
“The number of non -immune individuals grows, and mainly increases the risk of measles, because measles is one of the most infectious viruses,” Tan said.
She added: “If we cannot get our vaccination rates to the place they were, we will continue to see these outbreaks.”
Hayes said that measles can also cause complications after the first disease, including solid, infected, severe brain roll – is a rare disease, albeit fatal and nervous – and immune deficiency.
“I always find very worrying measles because it is very infectious,” Hayes said. She added that there are “many individuals in this country are not immune”, such as infants under the age of one year, who cannot be vaccinated yet, and individuals who suffer from immunodeficiency. There is “a risk of very severe disease as well as complications-each of the acute complications as well as long-term complications-with this virus.”