US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. brought vigilance among pediatricians, vaccine experts and lawmakers with an opinion piece focused on vitamin A and nutrition as a treatment for measles.
Kennedy wrote to Fox News about “good nutrition” and the benefits of vitamin A, as it led to the first American measles death in nearly a decade in response to the outbreak of measles in Texas, but did not explicitly recommend a highly effective vaccine.
“In fact, relying on vitamin A instead of a vaccine is not only dangerous and ineffective, but also puts children at serious risk,” Dr. Sue Cresley, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, told The Washington Post.
Measles is one of the most infectious diseases in the world. Infections can kill 1-3 people for every 1,000 infected people, and one in 1,000 cases can cause severe brain swelling called encephalitis. The disease also causes common misery including characteristic top-down rash, fever, runny nose, red and water-like eyes. The measles vaccine is 97% effective at preventing illness.
In Texas, at least 146 people are sick, primarily in unvaccinated communities in the South Plains area. More than 20 people have been hospitalized, and school-age children who have not been vaccinated have passed away. This is the first American measles death since April 2015.
Kennedy’s initial calmed his reaction to the outbreak. Kennedy mistakenly said at the Cabinet meeting that the outbreak killed two people in Texas, but later said, “It’s not unusual.” In fact, measles was tired of 285 people in total in 2024. With the Texas outbreak alone, almost half of last year’s total was the beginning of the year.
Over the weekend, Kennedy wrote a Fox News opinion piece. There, they argued that vaccinations are a “personal choice,” and Vitamin A could “dramatically reduce measles mortality,” and they stopped explicitly recommending measles vaccinations.
“Good nutrition is the best defense against most chronic and infectious diseases,” Kennedy writes. “Foods rich in vitamins A, C, and D, and vitamins B12, C, and E should be part of a balanced diet.”
Research shows that vitamin A may be an effective supportive care for children who are already infected with measles, but most studies have been conducted in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa, where measles mortality and malnutrition are more common.
“That can lead to an impression of false equivalence,” Dr. Peter Hotes, dean of the National Tropical Medicine at Baylor School of Medicine and co-director of the Vaccine Development Center at Texas Children’s Hospital Hospital, told the Post. “To make the best decision to your child, you can get vaccinated or give Vitamin A…it will be very misleading.”
Kennedy’s actions also sparked outrage from Democrat Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who demanded in a letter Monday that Kennedy was made clear about his “intention” towards U.S. vaccine policies.
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“These are times of danger for public health,” Warren writes, citing the difficult flu season and the dangers of the H5N1 strain known as the avian flu, according to CNN. “Your irresponsible and reckless efforts to undermine the country’s vaccine policies can incite the flames of disaster.”
Measles was declared excluded from the United States in 2000. But the victory was short-lived. At about the same time, former UK physician Andrew Wakefield published a fraudulent study linking vaccines to autism. This claim has been widely distributed by groups such as Child Health Defense, despite its widespread and repeated exposure. Kennedy led a nonprofit for nearly a decade. The group is considered one of the world’s leading propagators of anti-vaccine misinformation.
As a health secretary, Kennedy has issued an alarm to cancel a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) flu specialists and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) meeting, has issued a suspension work order on contracts aimed at developing new vaccines, and has “reevaluated” the 590m contract to develop vaccin maker Modern.
The US is in the middle of its worst flu season in 15 years. Though not considered a threat to the general public, bird flu also destroyed US agriculture and sparked concerns about the new pandemic.
