By George Citroner
A school-aged child in Texas recently became the first fatality in a rapidly spreading measles outbreak that has already sickened more than 120 people across the state’s Panhandle region.
As health officials race to contain the outbreak, doctors are highlighting a dual approach: vaccination to prevent infection and, for those already infected, vitamin A supplementation to potentially reduce the severity of complications.
Vitamin A Recommended for Measles Management
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus spread through droplets, causing severe illness and complications, especially in children, with a 90 percent infection rate.
In March 2020, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases published a call to action regarding the use of vitamin A for the management of measles in the United States. Though using vitamin A supplementation is recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the report said that it has not been adopted into common practice.
Low vitamin A levels do not explain the current outbreak, and it will not prevent infection, Dr. Andrew Handel, a pediatric infectious diseases expert from Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, told The Epoch Times.
“Rather, patients with low vitamin A levels are more likely to experience severe measles cases and complications,” he said.
Measles Depletes Vitamin A
Hospitalized measles patients are frequently vitamin A deficient, with low serum vitamin A (retinol) levels, which is associated with disease severity. Additionally, measles infections may also lower vitamin A levels in healthy people.
Children with no known prior vitamin A deficiency may exhibit a significant decline in vitamin A levels during the acute phase of their infection. This decline is associated with increased duration of fever, higher hospitalization rates, and decreased antibody levels.
Vitamin A levels returned to normal after the patients recovered.
The World Health Organization currently recommends that children infected with measles receive two doses of vitamin A supplements, taken 24 hours apart, with the doses varying by age.
Infants under 6 months old are recommended 50,000 IU per day for two days, with those 6 to 11 months old receiving 100,000 IU, and over one year old 200,000 IU.
Vitamin A reduces complications of measles infection, including preventing blindness, according to research published in the journal Public Health and the Eye. Supplementation can also shorten recovery time, and help prevent secondary infections from developing afterward.
The mechanism by which vitamin A helps is not well understood, “but it is likely that vitamin A helps with the immunologic response to measles,” Dr. David C. Nguyen, an infectious disease specialist at Rush University System for Health and assistant professor at Rush Medical College, told The Epoch Times.
Measles Vaccination
The current spread of the measles virus can be attributed to low vaccination rates, Nguyen said.
As of Feb. 28, 164 cases of measles have been confirmed since late January, with the majority of cases involving children. For 95 percent of those infected, the vaccination status was recorded as unvaccinated or unknown.
Nguyen encouraged unvaccinated individuals to get vaccinated as a way to prevent potential vaccination. The measles vaccine is 97 percent effective at preventing infections.
