Vitamin A for the management of measles in the United States

Abstract

Measles is an acute, highly contagious disease that results from infection with the measles virus and is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Vitamin A has been recommended for decades by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization to manage measles in hospitalized children. However, recent studies show that vitamin A has not been used appropriately to treat US children with measles - either by not using vitamin A at all or by using insufficiently low doses. In November 2019, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases convened a summit that included multidisciplinary subject matter experts from across the United States to discuss the use of vitamin A in US measles management. The resulting Summit recommendations include that all children in the United States presenting with measles should receive an age-appropriate dose of vitamin A as part of a comprehensive measles management protocol. Multiple studies in populations in which vitamin A deficiency is prevalent have shown that this simple, quick means of improving vitamin A status can dramatically reduce the risk of serious complications and death from measles, with minimal detectable incidence of adverse effects.