U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urged Americans to take vitamin A to combat a measles outbreak, but several children in Texas have since been hospitalized with signs of vitamin A toxicity.
Amid the ongoing measles outbreak, several patients at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, have abnormal liver function which can occur when a person takes too much vitamin A, CNN reports.
The hospital confirmed to Texas Public Radio that it is currently treating “children with severe cases of measles who are also suffering from vitamin A toxicity.” The hospital added that it has less than 10 pediatric patients who were all hospitalized due to “measles complications” and have “elevated levels of vitamin A” which is resulting in abnormal liver function.
The children suffering from the vitamin A toxicity and abnormal liver function come after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told the CDC update its measles guidelines to promote the use of vitamin A as a treatment rather than the measles vaccine.
The hospital is now warning the public to reduce consumption of vitamin A as excessive amounts of it can result in long lasting harmful effects as there has been zero evidence to support that taking vitamin A can prevent measles.
“While vitamin A plays an important role in supporting overall immune function, research hasn’t established its effectiveness in preventing measles infection. CRN is concerned about the reports of high-dose vitamin A being used inappropriately, especially in children,” the Council for Responsible Nutrition stated.
Over 320 people in the state of Texas have contracted measles in the past weeks, with 40 people hospitalized in the state and one child dying from the outbreak.
After RFK Jr. went on Fox News to boast about how treating measles with cod liver oil, which contains vitamin A, was “working”, pharmacies in West Texas reported that vitamin A-rich cod liver oil was then “flying off the shelves”.
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“I just want to be abundantly clear that vitamin A is not a replacement for vaccination,” Dr. Stacey Rose said to Houston Public Media earlier in March.
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