Experts alarmed

Measles cases on the rise: Kennedy recommends vitamin A

The number of measles cases continues to rise in the south of the USA and Health Minister Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is giving different advice. In the two particularly affected states of Texas and New Mexico, the number of cases has risen to around 300, according to local authorities. With a few exceptions, all those infected had not been vaccinated.

According to local authorities, the number of cases in Texas alone has risen to 259, with 34 infected people requiring hospital treatment. A child died of measles here in February. At the time, there were 124 confirmed measles cases in the state.

Outbreak began in late January
According to the New York Times, the outbreak began in late January when two cases were discovered in the rural community of Gaines County on the western border of the state. From there, the measles spread to neighboring New Mexico, where there was one death that has not yet been fully investigated.

Health Minister Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who had already cast doubt on vaccinations in previous years, explained the importance of vaccinations in several interviews, but also described them as a personal decision. At the same time, he claimed in an interview on Foxnews, for example, that vaccinations have side effects and that there are also deaths. Vaccination also causes all the diseases that measles causes, he claimed. In other interviews, he referred to vitamin A and cod liver oil as cures.

Vaccination is the best protection
Biology professor Kirsten Hokeness from Bryant University disagreed on the ABC news channel: the best way to avoid measles is vaccination. There is no evidence that the other proposed remedies, such as vitamin A, have any effect. Immunology professor Scott Weaver from the University of Texas said on the same channel that there used to be practically no measles outbreaks because most people were vaccinated. Recently, however, there have been more outbreaks.

In Gaines County, where the outbreak began, the vaccination rate is 82 percent, according to PBS. According to the US health authority CDC, outbreaks can occur if the vaccination rate falls below 95 percent. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), herd immunity of 95 percent of the population is also necessary to eradicate measles.

Highly contagious and life-threatening in extreme cases
Measles is one of the most contagious infectious diseases and can be life-threatening in extreme cases. It is transmitted via droplets and aerosols that are released when speaking, coughing and sneezing, for example. The virus triggers symptoms in almost all unprotected people. These include fever, coughing and the typical skin rash that spreads all over the body.