As a measles outbreak continues to spread across Texas and neighboring states, health officials are warning against the use of vitamin A as an alternative treatment, The New York Times reported March 25.
Here are four measles updates:
- The Texas outbreak has reached 327 cases since late January, an increase of 18 since late last week, according to the Texas Department of Health. Gaines County is at the center of the outbreak, with 226 cases, while 43 cases have been reported in New Mexico and nine in Oklahoma, including two probable cases.
- Two patients in Texas were fully vaccinated; 325 were unvaccinated or their status is unknown. So far, 40 people have been hospitalized and one unvaccinated child has died.
- Physicians in West Texas have started treating measles patients with signs of liver damage after being given high doses of Vitamin A from cod liver oil supplements, an alternative therapy endorsed by vaccine skeptics, including HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Physicians treating patients in Lubbock, Texas, said they have treated a handful of unvaccinated children who were given so much Vitamin A that they had liver damage.
- The Pan American Health Organization posted a rapid risk assessment on measles in the Americas on March 24 and said the overall risk for countries with low vaccine coverage is high and that cases have risen 5.5-fold compared to the same time period in 2024.
