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March 31, 2025
U.S. Measles Cases Continue to Grow; Cases of Vitamin A Toxicity Reported
By Marie Rosenthal, MS
Since the CDC’s health alert was announced on March 7, the number of measles cases has grown 444 in Texas and New Mexico alone, and the number of states that have reported cases have increased to 20.
The states outside of Texas and New Mexico which are reporting cases are: Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York City, New York State, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Washington. With 23 cases, Kansas is reporting the third highest case count. Most of those cases are in children with six cases being reported in infants and young children, and 15 cases in children from 5 to 17. No one in Kansas has been hospitalized. Ohio has reported 10 cases, all linked to an adult man who was confirmed and reported on March 20. Other states are reporting between one and nine cases.
In addition, cases of vitamin A toxicity have been reported since Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested people could use vitamin A supplementation to treat measles. Some parents appear to be using vitamin A to prevent measles, but vitamin A does not prevent the disease, and studies have shown it is not effective in treating measles among children who are well nourished. A Cochrane review found “no evidence of a difference for VAS [vitamin A supplementation] on mortality due to measles (RR [risk ratio] 0.88, 95% CI 0.69 to 1.11; 6 studies, 1,088,261 children; low-certainty evidence), respiratory disease (RR 0.98, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.12; 9 studies, 1,098,538 children; low-certainty evidence), and meningitis.” Vitamin supplementation did reduce the incidence of diarrhea from measles, however (Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2022;3[3]:CD008524).
Continue reading... https://www.idse.net/Immunology-Vaccination/Article/03-25/U-S-Measles-Cases-Continue-to-Grow-Cases-of-Vitamin-A-Toxicity-Reported/76628
CONTACT
Marie Rosenthal
MRosenthal@McMahonmed.com
"Reproduced with permission - Infectious Disease Special Edition (IDSE)"
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