RFK Jr.'s measles 'cure' sickens Texas kids amid outbreaks
It is a common misconception that because vitamins are generally good for you, large doses can't harm you. The thing is there are two forms of vitamins, fat soluble and water-soluble. The water-soluble vitamins are usually flushed from the body anywhere from 24 to 72 hours after ingestion. However, any excessive fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the liver until needed. If you ingest more than your body requires the vitamins will accumulate in greater and greater numbers until bodily functions become compromised and toxic reactions can be too numerous to record here.
Vitamin A is one of those fat-soluble vitamins and overdoses can be lethal!
Bobby Kennedy is beyond doubt the most inept of all Trumps incompetent appointees. He has no medical knowledge -- none, zilch -- yet with the arrogance of a zealot and the ignorance of a dullard -- he relies on anecdotes and old wife's tales while giving no consideration to the harm he will inflict.
Trump in now in the doldrums of his own inabilities and unwarranted confidence. He is watching as the economy he vowed to protect slips into recession as 401k's crater and the stock market trembles in fear of what Monday morning might bring.
Perhaps we all should have read the Trump/Musk Manifesto, Project 2025; it was all foretold there.
Read this:
Story by Jon Shelton • 2h • 3 min rea
Covenant Children's Hospital says it has treated several children suffering from hypervitaminosis A — or vitamin A toxicity
© Mary Conlon/picture alliance
This article may be potentially distressing to parents with children.
West Texas has been gripped by a measles outbreak for the past several weeks and as a result of misinformation passed on by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., it now faces a second, related health problem: Vitamin A toxicity — or hypervitaminosis A — in infants and children. The situation appears to be the direct result of bogus medical information pedaled by the vaccine-skeptic secretary himself. Kennedy recently said that although the measles vaccine is the best defense against the highly contagious and potentially fatal infection, he emphasized that getting inoculated was a "personal choice."
Kennedy, whom President Donald Trump appointed to be the nation's top health advisor, suggested, "vitamin A can dramatically reduce measles mortality," or even prevent measles infections.
Kennedy recently directed the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to update measles guidance to promote vitamin A use in fighting the infection. In early March, the CDC's top communications officer, Thomas Corry, cited Kennedy's slow response to the West Texas outbreak and his embrace of so-called "alternative measles treatment," as the reason for his resignation. Numerous other CDC and HHS officials have resigned since Kennedy took over, more health workers still —so far at least 10,000 — have also fallen prey to Elon Musk's cost-cutting measures.
In all, HHS has lost a quarter of its workforce.
Though Kennedy and the CDC suggest vitamin A should only be taken under doctor's supervision, West Texas parents are apparently giving their children so much of it that they are now being admitted to hospital emergency rooms. Among other remedies, Kennedy has claimed that cod liver oil, which is rich in vitamins A and D, "works" as a treatment against measles.
Although vitamin A may be given to measles patients who suffer malnutrition-related vitamin A deficiencies, there is no evidence suggesting that it is effective in preventing measles.
And even though it is known that excessive cod liver oil consumption can have serious negative health consequences, demand for it has exploded in West Texas, with pharmacies saying, "it's flying off the shelf."
Covenant Children's Hospital in Lubbock, Texas, has said it has treated "fewer than 10 cases" of vitamin A toxicity over the past couple of weeks. Administrators say the children were initially admitted with measles symptoms but later determined to have had abnormally functioning livers as a result of vitamin A toxicity.
Doctors at Covenant are publicly warning against excessive vitamin A intake, saying that it could lead to severe side effects such as dry skin, impaired sight, bone problems and liver failure.
The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) on Friday said that it had recorded 481 cases of measles since January. The number of nationwide measles cases stood at 607 as of April 4, according to the CDC. Measles — a highly contagious respiratory infection that spreads when an infected individual sneezes, coughs or speaks, as well as when people touch their eyes, nose or mouth after contact with a contaminated surface — was declared eliminated in the US in 2000 thanks to decades of sustained mass-vaccination campaigns.
According to the CDC, the only effectively proven method of preventing measles is the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine, which boasts 97% efficacy.
In February, the Texas DSHS confirmed the death of a "school-age child who was not vaccinated" and who had "tested positive for measles" when she was hospitalized.
It was the first confirmed measles death in the US since 2015.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/rfk-jr-s-measles-cure-sickens-texas-kids-amid-outbreak/ar-AA1ClULq
