Measles, Vitamin A, and Vaccination

You’ve probably already heard there’s been a measles outbreak in the US, Texas in particular. Tragically, 2 children have died as a result. Which is 2 too many because unlike many other diseases that can kill children, measles is preventable.

We’ve also seen misinformation spread about vitamin A and the role it plays in treatment of measles. Not to mention lots of misinformation about vaccines over the years.

I’m not here to make judgments. However, as a scientist and health expert, I want to offer some thoughts on this thorny topic. Let’s start with the big picture.

The Spread of Misinformation

The great thing about the internet is you have access to tons of information about pretty much anything. The bad thing? The information you get may be garbage, and it’s becoming harder to tell the difference between legit and not so much.

I started this blog back during the pandemic, because I was appalled at the sheer amount of misinformation about health and science floating on social media. The strangest part was where I was seeing a lot of this misinformation:

Food sensitivity groups.

I have food sensitivities and write about them, so I spend my share of time in these groups. And even to this day I occasionally see things there that deeply concern me.

To some extent, I get it. Those who suffer from life-altering maladies such as severe histamine intolerance, mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), or chronic fatigue syndrome have often faced major health issues for years that evidence-based medicine can’t grasp well. When that happens, many turn to alternative or even super-fringe medicine, hoping to make the suffering stop.

When medicine fails you, you may stop trusting it. I’ve veered in that direction myself at times.

But for all its limitations, medicine does one thing really well: combat infectious disease caused by viruses and bacteria.

The Benefit of Vaccines

We humans live a LOT longer than we did before modern medicine. Our mortality rate has gone down significantly. This shift isn’t because of our diets, which have gotten worse, or exercise, which we do less of than ever. It’s because of two things:

Antibiotics and vaccines. Both protect us and especially children against infectious disease, something most of us take completely for granted.

As you can probably guess, The Rogue Scientist is pro-vaccine. That includes mRNA vaccines.

Having said that, vaccines can be tricky for people with certain health conditions, including those I mentioned above (MCAS, etc). Whether to take or avoid a vaccine becomes a key decision discussed between patient and doctor.

Measles and Vitamin A

The recent measles outbreak in Texas has reached 561 confirmed cases as of this week, almost all of which are in unvaccinated individuals or individuals whose vaccination status is unknown. Most are children. The two confirmed deaths were unvaccinated school-age kids.

Just weeks ago, I spotted a post in one of my food sensitivity groups citing some “expert” recommending vitamin A as a measles treatment instead of vaccination.

Vitamin A can help with treating measles by reducing the severity of infection. It will not prevent or cure measles. If it did, we’d have known decades ago. Also, vitamin A is fat soluble and will get stored in body fat, which means overdose is a serious risk if you take more than your body needs.

I often see folks online who believe the medical industry hides simple or inexpensive cures from the public because it would rather profit from an expensive drug. This kind of conspiracy thinking reflects an extreme mistrust in medicine and science, often from those with little exposure to either or, on occasion, some quack hoping to profit off fear and sell you their brand of snake oil.

In reality, many drugs and vaccines get developed because easier and cheaper methods don’t exist. Also, for the record, vaccines are relatively inexpensive.

Many people also want natural alternatives to medications. I get it and lean that way as well. However, I don’t mess around when it comes to infectious agents. Despite getting sick for a day after receiving literally any vaccine, I still choose vaccination because I’ll take that brief illness over the possibility of much worse illness, spreading infection to others who may be vulnerable, or even death.

Modern Medicine Has Its Flaws

Those of us who lean health-obsessed know that the mainstream medical profession has many flaws. Especially in the US, where medicine and healthcare is at the mercy of capitalism. But the profession also has numerous benefits, many of which we take for granted.

I’m grateful for every one of those benefits, for how far we’ve come in terms of understanding health. We have a long way to go, but I believe science will continue to advance enough to help those who’ve fallen through the cracks.

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Related Articles and Resources

4 Tried-and-True Rules for Dealing with Vaccine-Hesitant People

4 Myths About COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines and Why They’re Wrong

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