Vaccines vs. Fish Oil: We Asked an Expert
With conflicting advice about the measles outbreak in the U.S., we spoke to an expert who told us: vaccines are the most effective way to combat measles.
“The Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine has been in use for decades. The vaccine hasn’t changed much because the viruses haven’t changed much,” Dr. Kara Burnham, professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and Public Health at Western State University, says.
The vaccine has been around for a long time, so we have plenty of scientific literature that supports its safety. But there’s a history of skepticism around the MMR vaccine that Professor Burnham helped us debunk.
Autism
There was a study in 1998 that suggested the MMR vaccine might trigger autism in children. After an investigation, the study was pulled from the Lancet, a trusted scientific journal that had published the study. There’s been a large body of research since then that hasn’t found any link between the MMR vaccine and autism. Burnham told us that one of the biggest studies on autism and MMR vaccines took place in Denmark. Over 600,000 children were part of the study. The results? The MMR vaccine doesn’t increase autism risk or trigger autism in children.
Vaccine Safety
There’s been concern that the MMR vaccine can cause the virus it’s trying to prevent. To understand why some people have this concern, we need to understand how vaccines work.
“There are a few different types of vaccines,” Burnham explains. “The MMR vaccine uses a weakened virus to cause an immune response in the body. The virus replicates itself in the patient, which can give the perception that we’re causing the illness. But really, we’re causing a robust immune response. This can sometimes cause temporary symptoms, like fever or rash, which are common in a lot of viruses.” But Professor Burnham is clear – these vaccines can’t cause the virus.
Innate Immunity
RFK Jr., the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, recently said in an interview, “It used to be that everybody got measles. And the measles gave you lifetime protection against measles infection.” But Professor Burnham explains it’s the complications that might come with measles that make the vaccine a safer route to immunity.
“One in 1000 folks who have measles experience encephalitis – swelling of the brain, and other types of nervous system complications. These complications are somewhat common in people who’ve had the disease, and that’s what the vaccine helps prevent.”
Burnham tells us that getting vaccinated with any vaccine won’t stop you from getting infected. But the hope is that it will prevent complications or death from the illness. MMR vaccines are very effective at doing this.
Alternative Measles Treatments
We asked Professor Burnham about some of the alternative measles treatments being talked about, like antibiotics, cod liver oil, and vitamin A.
“Antibiotics only treat bacterial infections, and measles are a virus. So antibiotics won’t help.”
But what about supplements like fish oil or vitamin A?
“There’s no evidence to support the idea that fish oil or cod liver oil will prevent or cure infection,” she says. But with vitamin A, the case is a little more complicated.
“Evidence does show that, in populations with a vitamin A deficiency, taking the vitamin will reduce severity of measles.” But Burnham doesn’t think that applies to children in the U.S. or other developed countries. “Even in places that are moderately malnourished in the U.S. – where people might be socioeconomically depressed and eat a lot of processed foods, there aren’t vitamin A deficiencies because a lot of the foods are enriched with vitamin A.”
So, in developed countries like the United States and Canada, taking vitamin A won’t help reduce the severity of measles.
“But, in developing nations where there is severe malnutrition, there is evidence to suggest that giving those people Vitamin A can reduce mortality [for measles],” Burnham says.
While there have always been small and contained measles outbreaks in the U.S., the current outbreak is worrying to public health officials because it’s multi-state and multi-location. While good nutrition can help support robust immune systems, getting vaccinated is still the safest and most effective way to stop the spread of measles.
