Hundreds of cases in the USA Health Minister recommends vitamin A against measles
The number of measles cases is growing in the USA and the Minister of Health is making controversial proposals. It is known what effectively protects against the virus.
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- The number of measles cases continues to rise in the USA.
- Meanwhile, the controversial Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is making controversial suggestions, such as taking vitamin A or cod liver oil.
- He also claimed in an interview, for example, that the vaccinations had side effects and that there were also deaths.
- Measles is one of the most contagious infectious diseases and can be life-threatening in extreme cases.
In the south of the USA, the number of measles cases continues to rise and Health Secretary 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 at the end of 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 clarified.
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 method of preventing 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 virtually no measles outbreaks because most people were vaccinated. Recently, however, the number of cases has increased again.
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 German 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 emitted when speaking, coughing and sneezing. The virus triggers symptoms in almost all unprotected people. These include fever, cough and the typical skin rash that spreads all over the body.
Measles infections are also on the rise again in Switzerland. After a major outbreak in 2019 with 220 cases, the Federal Office of Public Health recorded only one case in 2021 and 2022 - presumably a side effect of the coronavirus measures. 40 people contracted measles in 2023 and 94 in 2024. By 2025, there were already 21.
