A team from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arrived in Texas this week to aid in the response to a growing measles outbreak, and US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged that they would talk to \u201cfront-line doctors and see what is working on the ground\u201d and learn about therapeutics \u201cignored\u201d by the agency. <\/p>\n
There is a highly effective vaccine that prevents measles but no specific antiviral to treat it. Kennedy has previously pushed the use of vitamin A, and in an interview with Fox News this week, he endorsed an unconventional treatment regimen for measles including a steroid, an antibiotic and cod liver oil, which is rich in vitamin A. <\/p>\n
In the interview, which was posted in full on Fox Nation, <\/strong>Kennedy praised two West Texas doctors who he said were using this remedy on their patients and had seen \u201calmost miraculous and instantaneous recovery.\u201d He said these doctors had \u201ctreated most of the patients\u201d <\/strong>in the current outbreak, which has now reached 159 reported cases. <\/p>\n One of the doctors Kennedy is apparently taking cues from has troubled history. He was disciplined by the Texas Medical Board in 2003 for \u201cunusual use of risk-filled medications.\u201d <\/p>\n Kennedy said HHS would do a clinical trial on the steroid budesonide, the antibiotic clarithromycin and cod liver oil therapies and said \u201cwe recommend to local physicians that they consider vitamin A and their protocols. He also suggested that vitamin A may work \u201cas a prophylaxis,\u201d although doctors say it does not prevent measles. <\/p>\n However, Kennedy says measles vaccination, <\/strong>which can prevent most cases, is a personal choice. <\/p>\n \u201cAt this point, we are recommending that people in those [undervaccinated] <\/strong>communities get vaccines. We understand a lot of them will not, and we\u2019re going to try to make sure that they\u2019re taken care of through the best therapeutic interventions that we can provide them or recommend for them,\u201d Kennedy said in the Fox interview. <\/p>\n One of the doctors Kennedy praised, Dr. Richard Bartlett, has a history of using unconventional treatments. <\/p>\n Bartlett faced disciplinary action from the Texas <\/strong>Medical Board more than two decades ago for \u201cunusual\u201d prescribing of antibiotics and steroids in five patients, including two children. None of the patients had measles; they came in with a variety of complaints including diabetes, back and neck pain, sinus pressure, inflamed tonsils and other cold symptoms, obesity and uncontrollable hunger, according to the medical board\u2019s investigation. <\/p>\n After reviewing the patients\u2019 medical records, the board found that Bartlett misdiagnosed their symptoms and mismanaged their care, ordering unnecessary tests and treatments. <\/p>\n In a 2003 order, the board cited Bartlett for inappropriately using medications such as powerful IV antibiotics and \u201cmulti-day doses\u201d of long-acting steroids \u201cwithout any documentation in the records of the weighing of risk versus benefits of this care.\u201d <\/p>\n The <\/strong>board\u2019s <\/strong>final order stated that the \u201crespondent maintains that he treated the patients appropriately, with no adverse outcomes, considering that he was providing care to a relatively underserved area with limited resources and medical support.\u201d <\/p>\n Bartlett was cleared to return to practice without supervision <\/strong>in 2005 after adhering to the board\u2019s requests, such as completing additional medical education and having another doctor chosen by the medical board monitor him for at least a year. He also indicated that he would modify his practice accordingly. <\/p>\n During the pandemic, Bartlett said he treated Covid-19 patients with what he called his <\/strong>silver bullet: an experimental combination of budesonide, which is a steroid; the antibiotic clarithromycin; and aspirin. Bartlett often talked about the treatment on podcasts and in interviews, including some widely shared on social media. An independent fact-checking group found that his claims about the therapy were unsupported by scientific evidence. <\/p>\n Both measles and Covid are caused by viruses. Antibiotics, which kill bacteria, are powerless against viral infections. Medical experts say antibiotics can sometimes be helpful if a viral infection causes a secondary bacterial infection, such as an ear infection or pneumonia. But they\u2019re not appropriate or helpful in every case. <\/p>\n Steroids have been tried in people with measles who develop a very rare complication that leads to brain swelling, but using them in milder cases may be harmful because they dampen the body\u2019s immune response just when it is needed to fight the virus. <\/p>\n There is no specific treatment for measles. In severe cases, doctors may offer treatments such as supplemental oxygen and fluids to help patients get through the worst of their illness. <\/p>\n Dr. Lara Johnson, Covenant Health\u2019s chief medical officer, said its Lubbock, Texas, hospital has treated more than 20 patients and that hospital physicians have followed recommended treatment protocol. <\/p>\n The CDC recommends two doses of physician-administered vitamin A in cases of severe measles, such as people who are hospitalized. Infectious disease experts also recommend vitamin A in these cases, but they note that the vitamin is most useful in impoverished countries where children are significantly malnourished. <\/p>\n The HHS secretary said the people in West Texas who were getting sick, including a school-age child who died last week, may have had malnutrition. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very, very difficult \u2026 for measles to kill a healthy person,\u201d Kennedy said. <\/p>\n However, the state health department reported that the child who died had no underlying conditions, and local doctors disagree with the secretary\u2019s assessment of the population. <\/p>\n \u201cOur children are actually very well nourished. [That\u2019s] another concerning comment, because I think it makes people have a false sense of, \u2018Well, my kid is well nourished, so they\u2019re not going to get this,\u2019\u201d said Dr. Leslie Motheral, a pediatrician in Lubbock, where the outbreak is growing. <\/p>\n \u201cWhether you have underlying medical problems or you are healthy, measles can be detrimental. It\u2019s the kind of virus that doesn\u2019t really discriminate.\u201d <\/p>\n Kennedy claimed in the Fox interview to have seen \u201cstudies that show [vitamin A] is good for prophylaxis,\u201d but medical experts say it has no use for measles prevention. High doses can even be toxic. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s not evidence that vitamin A has any preventative benefits,\u201d said Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children\u2019s Hospital. \u201cThe worry is that it\u2019s being weaponized by the health and wellness industry.\u201d <\/p>\n The only way to prevent measles is to get the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, according to experts. <\/p>\n Kennedy is \u201ctalking about treatment for children with or anyone with measles, treatment of people with measles that can be prevented by vaccines,\u201d said Dr. William Moss, a pediatrician and infectious disease expert at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. \u201cVaccines actually prevent people from getting measles, so you don\u2019t need to treat them.\u201d <\/p>\n Kennedy\u2019s soft sell of the measles vaccine amid an outbreak has stunned public health experts. <\/p>\n Two doses of the vaccine are 97% effective at preventing measles. Immunity from the shot is long-lasting, too. When the vaccine is used by enough people within a community, measles has nowhere to spread. It can be eliminated. <\/p>\n Experts say Kennedy\u2019s emphasis on treatments has muddled the message. <\/p>\n In a post on X, Admiral Dr. Brett Giroir, a pediatrician and former US assistant secretary for health during the first Trump administration, thanked Kennedy for \u201cemphasizing the critical importance\u201d of the measles vaccine. \u201cBut please do not rely on #VitaminA to save your child in the US – helps in Africa where there is a deficiency-not here. I have both treated and buried children with measles,\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n Doctor was disciplined over treatments<\/h2>\n
A virus \u2018that doesn\u2019t really discriminate\u2019<\/h2>\n
Vaccines prevent measles, vitamin A doesn\u2019t<\/h2>\n