PObert F. Kennedy Jr. The new head of the US Department of Health and Humanitarian Services (HHS), for a long time Doubt over the safety of vaccines– Especially for the stiffness, mumps, and measles (MMR). But in new Category About the outbreak of the continuous measles, published March 2 in Fox NewsKennedy wrote that vaccines “not only protect individuals from measles, but also contribute to the immunity of society, and to protect those who cannot vaccinate for medical reasons.”
Kennedy’s recognition of the value of the measles vaccine comes at a time when the fascism that began in Texas continues to grow. To date, nearly 150 cases and death have been confirmed – the first death of the United States of disease in more than 10 years -. It is the largest measles in the United States for decades.
When Kennedy previously discussed the outbreak of the cabinet meeting last week, He did not mention the vaccination.
However, in the Fox article, Kennedy also wrote about the importance of a good diet in protecting people from measles – a worker that experts say may not be related to Americans. “Good nutrition is still the best defense against most chronic and infectious diseases,” he wrote. Vitamin A also described people with measles. On February 27, US centers to combat and prevent diseasesAnd that oversees HHS, updated their instructions to say that although there is no antiviral treatment for the group, “supportive care, including the Vitamin A Administration under the supervision of a doctor, may be appropriate.”
Here are what experts think about the first major public contact of Kennedy in his new role at the head of the Health Agency in the United States.
(Qualification) Supporting vaccination
Kennedy admits what public health experts have maintained for a long time: The best way to control measles is to vaccinate the audience and give them immunity to the virus. Of the 146 cases have been reported so far, state health officials say 79 people have not been vaccinated against MMR.
But while admitting the importance of vaccination at the population level in order to achieve protection at the community level, he also stresses that “all parents should consult health care providers to understand their options to obtain a MMR vaccine. Vaccination decision is a personal decision.”
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Unfortunately, the herd immunity does not work in this way, as public health experts say. Protection at the community level-known as herd immunity-is not possible unless 90 % of people are immunized. Experts agree that the balance of personal choice and the scientific reality of the herd immunity is very important to maintain the outbreak of the disease.
“The problem of making health decisions such as vaccination at the individual level is that viruses do not see us as individuals,” says Ben Newman, a professor of biology at the University of Texas A &M. “[They] See humanity as a group. Once the virus enters one of us, the opportunities are greater to reach another person. treatment [the decision to get vaccinated] As mainly individual freedom, in the sense of public health. “
“It is important as public health experts that we are doing our best to transfer them to the population as a whole reason that we do not continue to obtain this joint commitment to each other’s health,” says Dr. Daniel Cortezkis, head of the infectious diseases department in Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Yes, certainly, individual freedom is an important American value, but it must be placed in the context: We have no right to do everything we may want to do. We have some commitment to do certain things that we may not want to do because it protects others.”
Focus on vitamin A and diet
Whereas, infection experts are grateful because Kennedy recognizes the effectiveness of vaccines and the importance of herd immunity, they are concerned about his focus on vitamin A.
In parts of the world where children may not get enough vitamin A in their diet, the deficiency can increase the risk of more severe diseases and complications of measles. But Dr. Tina Tan, a professor of pediatrics at the Fennberg College of Medicine at Northwestern University and President of the American Infectious Diseases Association, does not mean that vitamin A is a backup copy of vaccination. “I don’t want people to think about this,” I don’t need to vaccinate, I will get vitamin A. “Don’t work like this.”
Read more: What do you know about the measles vaccine
the studies Supporting the benefits of vitamin A for people with measles mostly comes from the developing world, as people usually do not get enough vitamin in their diet. Lack of immune responses can lead to weaker, as well as other health issues such as blindness and delayed growth. These studies indicate that vitamin A supplements in people with deficiency can lead to more moderate infections with diseases such as measles.
But there is little evidence that it can make a big difference in people who already have health levels of vitamin, as in the United States “in a country like the United States where vitamin A deficiency is very rare, it will be surprising that supplements will raise any measurable clinical benefit,” says Kuritzkes. “It is certainly not a substitute for measles vaccination.”
Kuritzkes says that completion with vitamin can cause serious health problems if not properly. A lot of vitamin A can lead to the toxic effects of vitamin A, which cause nausea, joint pain, bone fractures, and liver damage, among other symptoms. It was the case Described In the indigenous people who consumed the liver of the polar bear, which have high concentrations of vitamin A.
Tan says that some doctors in the United States give measles patients vitamin, but only if they believe that the patient may be incomplete. “We have seen a number of children during the outbreak of measles in migrant centers here in Chicago, and there was no way to know what vitamin A levels are in these children, so we provided them with nutritional supplements,” she says. But she and Kuritzkes say it is a self -treatment with ready -made vitamins. Perhaps doing this be a waste of money and time, as they say; Perhaps it will not do much to relieve infection and it can be toxic if it is used in excessive quantities.
Kennedy’s message in which vitamin A may be useful or appropriate: “Studies have found that vitamin A can significantly reduce measles deaths.” He went on to discuss the importance of good nutrition as “the best defense against most chronic and infectious diseases.”
While the appropriate nutrition is crucial to creating a strong basis for fighting any disease, it will not make you uncover the viruses and pathogens of pathogens. “The only way to protect yourself from measles is to pollinate the vaccination,” says Tan. “The best preventive way is to prevent someone from getting the disease primarily by vaccinating it.”
