Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is more directly promoting measles vaccinations following the death of a second unvaccinated child. But he continues to highlight remedies that medical experts say do not prevent or treat the virus. As the number of measles cases grows around the country, experts worry that parents and other caregivers are getting mixed messaging about the safety of vaccines.

Over the weekend, Kennedy traveled to Texas for the funeral of an 8-year-old who public health officials say died this month of complications from measles. Kennedy met with the child’s family, as well as the family of a 6-year-old in the state who died in February of measles complications. . (An unvaccinated adult in New Mexico who died recently also had measles, .)

“The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the [measles-mumps-rubella] vaccine,” , the day of the funeral. In the lengthy post, he said he had redeployed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention teams to Texas at the request of the state’s governor. He said staff previously helped supply pharmacies and clinics with MMR vaccines, medicines and medical supplies, and supported contact investigations and community outreach.

The MMR vaccine, which is , .

But in , which included photos with the impacted families, Kennedy also noted that he had visited with “two extraordinary healers” — Dr. Richard Bartlett and Dr. Ben Edwards. Kennedy claimed the two men have “treated and healed” about 300 children from at the epicenter of the outbreak using aerosolized budesonide and clarithromycin.

Aerosolized budesonide can open airways to . Clarithromycin is an antibiotic that can . But Patsy Stinchfield, an infectious disease nurse practitioner and a past president of the (NFID), told The 19th that neither is a measles antiviral medication.

Stinchfield said to suggest either treatment healed hundreds of children from measles “is distracting.” , though doctors can try to treat secondary symptoms that might emerge from an infection.

“The way that it’s being framed is confusing and misleading and kind of off the main message, which should be to vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate,” she said.

Both “healers” have a history of challenging . Bartlett faced disciplinary action from the Texas Medical Board in 2003 for “unusual use of risk-filled medications,” . At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he claimed vaccines were not needed and a combination of drugs, including budesonide, for treating the virus.

Edwards, who said mass infection is “God’s version of measles immunization,” , runs a facility in Texas where he reportedly treats some people for measles-related ailments with budesonide. A nearby store distributes cod liver oil, . Cod liver oil, which , is not a preventive measure for measles, Stinchfield said, and should not be used in place of the MMR vaccine.

HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said in an email that Kennedy has offered “clear guidance that vaccines are the most effective way to prevent measles” and defended the use of budesonide and clarithromycin to treat secondary symptoms.

Dr. Adam Ratner, who serves on an infectious diseases committee for the , said in an email to The 19th that there is no evidence to support the use of either treatment to care for children who have been infected with measles.

“Promoting unproven medications for measles treatment puts children at unnecessary risk, and the only way to prevent measles is by vaccination with the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine,” Ratner wrote.

Dr. John Swartzberg, a clinical professor emeritus at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, made the same point in a separate email to The 19th.

“Budesonide and clarithromycin have NO therapeutic role in treating or preventing measles infection,” he wrote. “There is no credible science to support their use for this purpose.”

An HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kennedy is traveling to parts of the Southwest this week.

Kennedy’s first expansive remarks on the measles outbreak came in an published on Fox News in early March, when the secretary encouraged parents to consult their health care providers about getting the MMR vaccine. He said at the time that the decision to vaccinate “is a personal one.”

Stinchfield said that messaging can dilute from efforts to end the current outbreaks, .

“When we’re talking about the most contagious virus that we have and how easily it spreads to other children, when someone chooses not to vaccinate … it is not a personal choice anymore,” she said. “You have now endangered other individuals, and especially little children, pregnant women. So an unvaccinated person is potentially a walking infectious risk to others.”

In his , Kennedy recommended that some people administer vitamin A under the supervision of a physician to reduce related measles deaths. Cod liver oil also contains vitamin A.

While people who are malnourished or have a weakened immune system may be treated with vitamin A — along with AAP and NFID — any other use of vitamin A is not recommended, and importantly, .

At Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, Texas — which has treated children infected with measles — a representative confirmed to The 19th that its staff had encountered cases of vitamin A toxicity among unvaccinated children who were initially hospitalized due to measles complications. Some patients used vitamin A for both treatment and measles prevention. As of late March, the staff had reported fewer than 10 vitamin A toxicity cases.

“This topic has garnered extensive attention on social media and other platforms,” according to a statement from Dr. Lara Johnson, pediatric hospitalist and chief medical office of Covenant

Health-Lubbock Service Area, which includes Covenant Children’s Hospital. “While there are potential benefits, it is crucial to consult with your primary care physician before initiating any new treatment regimen.”

Stinchfield said the takeaways from Kennedy’s posts are offering mixed messaging to parents at a time when the federal government should already have more urgent calls for immunization.

“We should be in all hands on deck mode and pouring resources into stopping the measles outbreak and I am not seeing that,” she later wrote in an email.

Kennedy has a long history of anti-vaccine views that he has tried to dispel as he begins to oversee HHS. During his Senate confirmation hearings, Kennedy told lawmakers that .

But since then he has alarmed some people within his own agency. In March, a top vaccine official within the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is run under HHS, announced he would .

“It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Dr. Peter Marks wrote in his resignation letter as director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. According to , Marks said he was asked to find data on brain swelling cases and deaths tied to the MMR vaccine — data that Marks said did not exist. Marks has encouraged parents to get the MMR vaccine for their children.

Swartzberg said he appreciates that Kennedy is “finally” stating that the best way to control measles infections and deaths is vaccination, but noted that it’s been months since the first cases were reported. He believes Kennedy’s promotion of vitamin A and other drugs has also steered people, including parents, away from vaccinating their kids.

“This came very late in the game,” he said. “And, he has never stated that the vaccine is safe.”

Stinchfield helped address a measles outbreak in Minnesota within the Somali community and measles outbreaks in the early 1990s. She’s seen firsthand how children suffer from a measles infection. It can include brain swelling, long-term complications and death. have been declining since around the start of the pandemic, a dynamic that some medical experts believe is partially attributed to a growing distrust of the government.

Stinchfield encouraged parents to seek reliable sources of information — including from , and trusted pediatric providers — amid an onslaught of misinformation online.

“You really need to make sure that you’re getting reliable information from people who know what they’re talking about,” she said.

was originally reported by Barbara Rodriguez of . Read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy.

A Western Kentucky University student has a confirmed case of measles and may have exposed others, according to the Barren River Health District and the Kentucky Department for Public Health.

The student is unvaccinated against the highly contagious disease, the health departments said.

The student, whose name, gender and other identifying information were not released, recently traveled internationally. This is where they “are presumed to have been exposed to measles.”

Upon returning, and “while infectious with measles,” the student attended public events on Aug. 28, 29 and 30, the health department said.

People who were at the following locations may have been exposed:

• The Commons at Helm Library (WKU)
  • 1906 College Heights Blvd #11067 in Bowling Green
  • Wednesday Aug. 28, 2024, (7:45 a.m. – 10  am and 8 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.)
  • Thursday Aug. 29, 2024, (7:45 a.m. – 10 a.m.)
  • Friday Aug. 30, 2024, (7:45 a.m. – 10 a.m.)
• WKU student union Starbucks
  • 1906 College Heights Blvd in Bowling Green
  • Wednesday Aug. 28, 2024, 6:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
• Simply Ramen restaurant trivia night
  • 801 Campbell Lane in Bowling Green
  • Thursday Aug.  29, 2024, (7 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.)

Measles “spreads easily when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes,” . It can cause serious complications and death, according to WHO, which reported most deaths from measles in 2022 were in unvaccinated children.

Vaccination is the best defense against measles, WHO says.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a first dose of MMR vaccine for children 12–15 months and a second dose between ages 4–6. Teens and adults should also stay up-to-date on this vaccine, , which is generally available at pharmacies.

Symptoms of measles are fever, cough, watery eyes, runny nose and rash.

If you have questions about exposure or your risk, call your healthcare provider or the Barren River District Health Department at 833-551-0953.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on and .

It found more than half of unvaccinated American adults who reported strong hesitancy to the vaccine had a high school education or less. Five of the top 10 reasons for bypassing inoculation included lack of knowledge about its benefits and the risks of remaining unvaccinated. 

A lack of confidence in the shot itself followed by concerns about side effects and distrust in government were listed as the greatest concerns among the vaccine hesitant, according to a draft version of , which will be published in an upcoming issue of the

“Vaccine hesitancy is a complex problem across the U.S.,” said Saif Khairat, associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the study’s principal author. “And the root cause of that problem is different for different people.”

The study considered a number of variables, including the percent of households with no access to a vehicle; those who were unemployed; had less than a high school education; had trouble speaking English; identified as a member of a minority group; lived in poverty; were over 65 or were single parents with children under 18. 

The paper centered on data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of May 9, 2021. It examined statistics from nearly every county in America — Texas did not provide vaccination data — in an effort to help policymakers better understand the characteristics of vaccine holdouts.

While the study focused on information gleaned more than eight months ago, the issue remains: Just as of Jan. 20, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Vaccination rates vary widely by age. More than 84 percent of U.S. adults age 65 and older are fully inoculated, according to . The figure drops dramatically for children ages 5 to 11: It tops out at 48.4 percent of young children in Vermont and just 5.3 percent in Alabama. The CDC for this age group in November. 

continue to feel the strain — some at record levels — as COVID-related beds are filled mostly by patients who have not been inoculated. Some countries, buckling under the Omicron variant, are considering a . 

Former President Donald Trump, who once famously said he loves “the poorly educated,” downplayed the severity of the virus, though he was vaccinated. The notion has a stubborn hold on his most ardent followers who at a recent event when he said he received a vaccine booster. 

Khairat and his co-authors said public outreach targeting the undereducated should address the shot’s safety and effectiveness and include statistics on the percentage of people within their local community who have received the inoculation. Vaccine promotion efforts should incorporate discussion of a path back to normalcy through herd immunity — information, they said, best delivered by a trusted, locally recognized figure.

of American adults ages 25 and older had not earned their high school diploma as of 2017, according to the American Council on Education. Another 29 percent graduated high school but did not further their education.

Anthony DiMaggio, associate professor of political science at Lehigh University, said his recent analysis shows that age is the strongest predictor of vaccination rates — but that education also plays a major role. 

“What is not in question is that both factors are significant in accounting for whether people are vaccinated or not, with less educated Americans and those under 60 being less likely to have gotten at least two shots by mid-2021,” he said. 

John A. Romley, associate professor at the University of Southern California, helped conduct earlier this year. He and his colleagues discovered that U.S. counties that scored high on both hesitancy and “social vulnerability” were “especially likely” to have lower COVID-19 vaccination rates than the rest of the nation.

Romley and his team have more recently begun to focus on children. Preliminary results from their latest efforts show socioeconomic disadvantage plays a larger role in vaccination rates for kids than it does for adults.

“Parents think about vaccinations for themselves differently than they think about vaccinations for their kids,” Romley said. 

Some adults are required by their employers to take the vaccine. They also might realize they are more vulnerable to a more severe illness than their children, he said. Other unknowns, including the shot’s long-term impact, might also contribute to their hesitancy. 

“Talking to people with respect and trying to persuade them is the only way to make progress,” Romley said. “But in these polarized times, the conversations we have are pretty heated and I don’t think that’s helping.”

Time has shown that not recommendations, are more effective in boosting vaccination rates. 

to push for a vaccine mandate for students back in October: The requirement would go into effect in July. states have followed suit. 

Individual school districts, including Los Angeles Unified, that tried the same tactic were met with immediate backlash and by the threat that additional students would go remote. New York City schools have so far not required students be vaccinated, with Mayor Eric Adams promising a decision on a mandate . 

But at least one New York City educator said mandates are not the answer, even in the face of the Omicron variant. Patrick Sprinkle, a high school social studies teacher at the N.Y.C. Lab School for Collaborative Studies in Manhattan, said he’s worried about inoculation rates and the spread of the virus, but doesn’t believe families should be forced to take the shot. 

“This remains a pressing concern for me,” he said. “It is of the utmost importance that we encourage families to have their children vaccinated, however, a mandate is an unwise policy decision as it will push more students into ineffective remote learning and deny students the highest quality education possible.”