Parents Are Giving Their Kids Toxic Levels Of Vitamin A As The Measles Outbreak Spreads

As of last Friday, when Centers of Disease Control and Prevention statistics were last updated, there were nearly 400 cases of measles across the United States, the majority of which are associated with an outbreak in western Texas.

While most Americans receive two doses of the MMR vaccine by the time they are seven, which provides robust immunity against measles, mumps, and rubella, those who are not — either by their parents’ choice or because they’re too young to receive immunization — have taken dubious steps in an attempt to protect themselves from the vaccine-preventable illness, including taking vitamin A.

“Studies have found that vitamin A can dramatically reduce measles mortality,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy wrote in an OpEd for Fox News.

But while Kennedy acknowledged that administration of vitamin A should be given under the supervision of a physician — and that vaccinations protect individuals and communities — it seems that some parents took matters into their own hands. The New York Times reports that doctors treating patients in Texas have encountered cases of unvaccinated children requiring treatment for liver damage due to vitamin A toxicity.

It may feel counter-intuitive to associate vitamins with any kind of toxicity. After all, we need vitamins — how could they hurt us? But as doctors are wont to say, it’s the dose that makes the poison. Some vitamins — B vitamins and vitamin C — are water soluble. Once ingested, they are dissolved directly into the blood stream. As such, many of these vitamins have no known toxicity levels or have such a high threshold for toxicity that it’s all but impossible to consume enough of it casually or even with effort. But fat soluble vitamins — vitamins A, D, E, and K — are absorbed and stored in fatty tissue and the liver. As such, it is easier to consume damaging levels of these vitamins.

Vitamin A is crucial in promoting cell division, reproduction, immune function, and overall growth and development. It also helps the heart, lungs, and other organs work properly. As such, everyone needs this vitamin to live.

“Typically, [appropriate] doses are available in a balanced diet, and supplementation is not necessary,” says Dr. Nicholas Church of Somerset Medical, who spoke to Scary Mommy by email.

Nevertheless, it is possible to take or otherwise ingest too much vitamin A. Vitamin A toxicity is marked by nausea, vomiting, headache, fatigue, joint and bone pain, blurry vision, skin/hair problems, increased pressure on the brain, liver damage, confusion, and even coma.

But is there any truth in the idea that vitamin A is helpful in combatting measles, either prophylactically or as treatment? As with most things in medicine, it’s a little complicated and not without nuance.

“The only way to prevent measles is through the MMR vaccine,” Church explains, noting that the more than 50-year track record of the vaccine demonstrates its efficacy and safety. “Vitamin A is not a cure for measles; there is no known cure. Vitamin A can help restore the immune system and heal the mucosal lining of the gastrointestinal tract, which can reduce the severity and complications of measles and lower mortality. However, the benefits are most pronounced in children with vitamin A deficiency in the developing world. Here in the States, vitamin A deficiency is rare.”

Still, says Church, both the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics advise two doses of Vitamin A for children diagnosed with measles. But again, knowing what doses to give is important — which can range from 50,000 to 200,000 IU depending on a child’s age — which is why infected children should be treated with the vitamin by a physician lest they risk hypervitaminosis.

So the connection between vitamin A and measles didn’t appear out of nowhere. Neither did it come into the zeitgeist in bad faith. But a little information, as they say, is a dangerous thing.

“The strongest evidence for the benefit of vitamin A is in malnourished children in the developing world,” says Church. “So we have to be careful not to extrapolate data and give Americans a false sense of security that vitamin A is the answer in treating measles.”

Dr. Nicholas Church is the founder of Somerset Medical and has been practicing medicine for more than 24 years. He is a board certified member of the American Board of Family Medicine, the American Academy of Family Physicians and American Academy of HIV Medicine and an expert in preventive healthcare, LGBTQ care and internal medicine including cardiovascular health and diabetes.