“Measles is a serious and highly contagious viral disease that can lead to severe health complications,” the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) told NutraIngredients.
“Treatment and care for measles should always be conducted under the guidance of a qualified healthcare practitioner. As the FDA states, ‘Dietary supplements are not intended to treat, diagnose, cure, or prevent any disease.’“
When supplements are used under such conditions, the council added, they cease to be dietary supplements and are regulated as drugs for their therapeutic benefits.
Vitamins, not vaccines?
In an opinion piece published Sunday on Fox News, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recognized that measles vaccines “not only protect individual children from measles but also contribute to community immunity,” but he maintained immunization should be a personal choice.
The piece promoted the use of vitamin A, cod liver oil and the steroid budesonide to treat infection, linking to a 2010 analysis to show that vitamin A can “dramatically reduce measles mortality.” The analysis also supported increasing measles vaccine coverage.
“We performed a meta-analysis of six vitamin A treatment RCTs with measles-specific mortality data and found no significant reduction in measles mortality,” the authors of the analysis reported. “However, when stratifying the analysis by vitamin A treatment dose, at least two doses of 200,000 IU for children ≥1 year of age and 100,000 IU for infants was found to reduce measles mortality by 62%.”
There has been one confirmed measles-related death of an unvaccinated school-aged child reported since U.S. cases started appearing in late January.
Secretary Kennedy added that although there is no approved antiviral, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recently updated its guidance to support physician-administered vitamin A for mild, moderate and severe infection.
The text of the guidance states that “supportive care, including vitamin A administration under the direction of a physician, may be appropriate.”
“Pardon my cynicism, but that’s about as ambiguous as a structure-function claim,” said Harry Rice, PhD, vice president of regulatory and scientific affairs at the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega‐3s (GOED). “While it may be appropriate, that means that it may not be appropriate. I suspect vitamin A may be beneficial if a person is deficient, but vitamin A deficiency is rare in the United States, which suggests that vitamin A administration is not going to be very helpful.”
The updated CDC recommendation coincides with reports of at least 164 cases of measles in at least nine states. Most of the cases have occurred among unvaccinated, school-aged children in Texas, and U.S. Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) coverage among kindergarteners is now below the 95% coverage target and decreasing.
“They’re getting very, very good results, they report from budesonide, which is a steroid,” Secretary Kennedy noted in a follow-up Fox News interview on Tuesday. “It’s a 30-year-old steroid, and clarithromycin and also cod liver oil, which has high concentrations of vitamin A and vitamin D.”
Uses of cod liver oil
Scientifically substantiated as a significant source of omega-3s and vitamins A and D, cod liver oil has been used for centuries across cultures and medicinally since the 18th and 19th centuries to treat conditions including tuberculosis, rheumatism and rickets.
“While cod liver oil’s nutrients, including EPA, DHA and vitamins A and D are necessary to support one’s immune system, there is no research to support the use of cod liver oil to treat measles,” Dr. Rice said. “Like fish oils (rich in EPA and DHA), cod liver oil (rich in EPA, DHA and Vitamins A & D) can be used to support immune health. Support is the key word. Can they be used to treat a compromised immune system? In some situations, perhaps, but I don’t know for certain.”
He added that the science supports wide ranging benefits of EPA/DHA rich oils like fish and cod liver oils associated with cardiovascular, brain and maternal health.
Regarding vitamin A, CRN said that as an essential nutrient, it is crucial for many aspects of health, including vision, growth, reproduction and immune function but that it is fat-soluble and accumulates in the liver, potentially resulting in adverse effects if overdosed.
“[T]he tolerable upper intake level for preformed vitamin A is 3,000 mcg [equivalent to 10,000 IU] per day in adults,” the council noted, advising consumers to remain below this level unless following doctor’s orders.
“Nor is vitamin A supplementation a substitute for the measles vaccine, and CRN’s members urge parents to consider the vaccine as a tool for prevention. While the CDC recognizes vitamin A as part of the standard of care for some measles patients, vitamin supplementation does not prevent the onset or transmission of the disease.”
