A growing measles outbreak across Texas and surrounding states has taken an unexpected turn as several hospitalized children have developed signs of vitamin A toxicity, according to pediatricians in West Texas. The cases have emerged amid a surge in unverified alternative treatments circulated online and promoted by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., raising alarm among medical professionals about misinformation and its consequences.
At Covenant Children's Hospital in Lubbock, several unvaccinated children infected with measles showed abnormal liver function tests-an indication of vitamin A overload. "Recovery for patients with acute toxicity can be rapid when the vitamin is discontinued," said Dr. Lesley Motheral, a pediatrician treating affected patients. "Chronic toxicity can affect bones, brain and of course the liver. ... Sadly, some of the more serious problems with vitamin A toxicity are not always reversible."
Kennedy, who has previously led an anti-vaccine nonprofit, has advocated for vitamin A as a measles treatment and even as a preventative option. In a recent Fox News interview, he said the vitamin could work "as a prophylaxis" and claimed that two doctors in Texas using cod liver oil and antibiotics had seen "almost miraculous and instantaneous recovery." That guidance has reportedly influenced parental decision-making in the region.
"I did not hear anything about Vitamin A until he said it on television," Katherine Wells, director of public health in Lubbock, told the New York Times. The supplement's sudden popularity has coincided with rising cases of complications among measles patients in the area.
- Outbreak Impact (as of March):
- Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma: 379 confirmed measles cases
- Kansas: 23 additional linked cases
- Reported fatalities: 1
- Hospitalizations: Dozens
Vitamin A is essential to immune function and vision, but in excess, it accumulates in the body, particularly in the liver. The fat-soluble compound is not excreted in urine like water-soluble vitamins, increasing the risk of toxicity. Symptoms include jaundice, dry skin, headaches, blurry vision, and bone thinning. In pregnant women, it can cause birth defects.
Dr. Lara Johnson, chief medical officer for Covenant Health-Lubbock Service Area, said the vitamin's role in measles care is often misunderstood. "It's coming out of the health and wellness ... influencer industry that downplays the importance of vaccines and tries to promote various spectacular cures like ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine or vitamin A," she said.
Both ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine were widely discredited as COVID-19 treatments and are now cited by public health experts as cautionary examples of misinformation-fueled drug misuse.
Medical professionals stress that vitamin A can be helpful only under physician supervision and primarily in children who are measles-infected and vitamin-deficient. That context does not apply to most children in the U.S., where nutrition levels tend to be sufficient. "If people have the mistaken impression that you have an either-or choice of MMR vaccine or vitamin A, you're going to get a lot of kids unnecessarily infected with measles," said Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. "That's a problem, especially during an epidemic."
The Council for Responsible Nutrition, a dietary supplement industry group, issued a statement this week cautioning against high-dose vitamin A use in children. "While vitamin A plays an important role in supporting overall immune function, research hasn't established its effectiveness in preventing measles infection," the group warned.
Dr. Summer Davies, a Lubbock pediatrician, said one of her patients had only been sick for a few days but had been taking vitamin A for three weeks prior to falling ill. The damage from overuse, physicians say, likely came not from treatment but misguided prevention.
Kennedy has said he "encourages" vaccination but also believes it is "a personal choice." Public health officials argue that his statements contribute to confusion at a critical moment. The MMR vaccine remains the only scientifically proven method of preventing measles infection, with two doses offering 97% protection.
