IMA President Dr. Joseph Varon joined The National News Desk to discuss findings from his new peer-reviewed study on measles treatment options, published in Antiviral Research. With measles cases making headlines, Dr. Varon shifts the conversation from fear to practical clinical guidance—highlighting the role of Vitamin A supplementation, off-label antivirals for severe cases, and the importance of nutrition and overall health in determining outcomes.
Check out these related resources from IMA below, followed by the full segment transcript.
- Post: New Study Reviews Therapeutic Candidates for Measles
- Press Release: Major New Study: “Measles Is Highly Treatable”
- Webinar: Measles and the Childhood Vaccine Schedule
- Video: Dr. Liz Mumper Discusses Measles
- Post: 9 Must-Know Measles Facts You Won’t Hear on the News
- Course: Kid’s Corner 11: The MMR Vaccine Debate
- Course: Kid’s Corner 12: Treating Measles and Understanding Risks
Transcript
Jan Jeffcoat: Measles cases are making headlines across the country with much of the focus centered on outbreaks, but a new peer-reviewed study is shifting the conversation to what happens if someone actually gets sick and what treatment options could help.
President of the Independent Medical Alliance, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Independent Medicine, and Professor at the University of Houston College of Medicine, Dr. Joseph Varon joining us this morning to discuss… the busiest man in medicine! My goodness, you have a lot of titles there. Now, your new study published in Antiviral Research reviews treatment options for measles. Why was it so important to focus on therapies right now?
Dr. Joseph Varon: Well, as you correctly mentioned Jan, clearly measles are increasing. And even though prevention remains the cornerstone of public health, physicians usually ask me, “What do I do if the patient is really sick?” So what our systematic review — what it did — it looked at the clinical evidence: what can you do for people? And even though there is no specific FDA-approved antiviral treatment, we went ahead and we provided all the information as to what is clinically supported by the literature.
Jan Jeffcoat: One of the key findings that I read involves Vitamin A. So for people at home who may not be familiar, what role does Vitamin A play in, perhaps, measles recovery?
Dr. Joseph Varon: That’s a fascinating question. Vitamin A has consistently been validated as an adjunctive therapy in measles. When you have measles, you suppress the immune function of the body, especially in the respiratory tract, especially in the stomach and intestine tract. So what Vitamin A does is support the immune modulation; it helps you restore the integrity of the respiratory system. And there are a lot of randomized trials that have shown that high doses of Vitamin A decrease measles mortality as well as complications. It’s not an antiviral, but it helps you reduce complications.
Jan Jeffcoat: So what are the best foods that contain Vitamin A that you can eat, and also is it best to get Vitamin A from a supplement or, you know, from food?
Dr. Joseph Varon: I mean, obviously food is best. There are a variety of foods that you can take, but I do suggest that people understand that Vitamin A is extremely important. When you look, for example, at Africa, Africa has a lot of complications from measles because people don’t consume enough Vitamin A. I always suggest that food is medicine, so I would go for food first before I go to supplements.
Jan Jeffcoat: Okay, and you also look at other treatments for more serious cases. What options are available for patients who are at higher risk?
Dr. Joseph Varon: Well, so for uncomplicated measles, treatment is just supportive, you know: hydration, fever control, monitoring. However, if you have severe cases like pneumonia or brain issues, along with Vitamin A, you do supportive care. If you have an immunocompromised patient, there are a lot of clinical trials that show that the off-label use of Ribavirin, which is an antiviral, and Interferon Alfa reduces the severity and complications. These are not routine therapies, but may be considered in life-threatening cases.
Jan Jeffcoat: Yeah, and to your point, I also think too, one part of your study that is very interesting is that it notes really nutrition and overall health make a huge difference in these outcomes. So you kind of already want to be ready instead of having to get ready, we always say. So you want to already try to be as healthy as possible, eat healthy, do the right things. How should families think about risk here in the US?
Dr. Joseph Varon: Well clearly, you know, risk varies based on age and your baseline health. In the US, the mortality rates, like I said, are much lower than if you look at other low-resource settings. Who gets in trouble? Unvaccinated children, infants that are too young, immunocompromised individuals, malnourished patients.
So nutrition and immune resilience continue to be the most important part. And while Vitamin A deficiency is less common in the US, you know, overall health still influences how you recover and your complication risk. Families need to understand that most cases resolve with supportive care. I mean, people are freaking out really these days about measles. No — I mean, I have seen a lot of patients with measles; most of them do well except those that have these immunocompromised issues.
Jan Jeffcoat: All right, Vitamin A it is. President of the Independent Medical Alliance, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Independent Medicine, and Professor at the University of Houston College of Medicine, Dr. Joseph Varon. Great talking to you, sir. Thank you for joining us.
Dr. Joseph Varon: Thank you for having me.
