Measles Outbreak (supposedly)

[Merry]

Hi all,

I heard throught the Northland grapevine that there is an 'outbreak' of measles in Hokianga. I am in Kerikeri so the Hokianga is roughly an hours drive away. I know deep down that this is probably just hipe because on the news this morning 'they' were saying that the best thing to do is ensure that your child is vaccinated. Their national figures must be down for the month (tehehe). But......I can't help but want to be prepared if it does happen to come our way. I have a not quite 6 month old daughter who is exclusively breastfed. Are there any supplements that I could be taking to help boost immunity?

Thanks in advance.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Are your children healthy? If so, keep them healthy.

If they get measles, vitamin A is the answer.

To cut out all the geekspeak, vitamin A stops the measles virus being able to replicate at great speed and bumps up the inate immune system to get rid of it.

Now for the geekspeak:


Antiviral Res. (http://javascript<b></b>:AL_get(this,%20'jour',%20'Antiviral%20Res.');) 2008 Oct;80(1):45-53. Epub 2008 May 19.
Retinoids inhibit measles virus in vitro via nuclear retinoid receptor signaling pathways.
Trottier C (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Trottier%20C%22%5BAuthor%5D), Chabot S (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Chabot%20S%22%5BAuthor%5D), Mann KK (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Mann%20KK%22%5BAuthor%5D), Colombo M (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Colombo%20M%22%5BAuthor%5D), Chatterjee A (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Chatterjee%20A%22%5BAuthor%5D), Miller WH Jr (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Miller%20WH%20Jr%22%5BAuthor%5D), Ward BJ (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Ward%20BJ%22%5BAuthor%5D).
McGill University Health Center Research Institute, Department of Infectious Diseases, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Measles virus (MV) infects 30 million children every year, resulting in more than half a million deaths. Vitamin A (retinol) treatment of acute measles can reduce measles-associated mortality by 50-80%. We sought to determine whether or not retinoids can act directly to limit MV output from infected cells. Physiologic concentrations of retinol were found to inhibit MV output in PBMC and a range of cell lines of epithelial and endothelial origin (40-50%). Near complete inhibition of viral output was achieved in some cells/lines treated with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and 9-cis RA (9cRA). Important attenuation of the anti-MV effect of retinoids in R4 cells, a subclone of a retinoid-responsive cell line (NB4) deficient in RAR signaling, demonstrates that this effect is mediated at least in part by nuclear retinoid receptor signaling pathways. Inhibition of MV replication could not be fully explained as a result of retinoid effects on cell differentiation, proliferation or viability, particularly at low retinoid concentrations (1-10nM). These data provide the first evidence that retinoids can directly inhibit MV in vitro, and raise the possibility that retinoids may have similar actions in vivo.
PMID: 18547655 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
FASEB J. (http://javascript<b></b>:AL_get(this,%20'jour',%20'FASEB%20J.');) 2009 Sep;23(9):3203-12. Epub 2009 May 15.
Retinoids inhibit measles virus through a type I IFN-dependent bystander effect.
Trottier C (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Trottier%20C%22%5BAuthor%5D), Colombo M (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Colombo%20M%22%5BAuthor%5D), Mann KK (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Mann%20KK%22%5BAuthor%5D), Miller WH Jr (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Miller%20WH%20Jr%22%5BAuthor%5D), Ward BJ (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=%22Ward%20BJ%22%5BAuthor%5D).
Department of Infectious Diseases, McGill University Health Center Research Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Measles-associated mortality can be decreased in response to treatment with vitamin A. Our goal was to understand the mechanism by which vitamin A and other retinoids reduce measles virus (MeV) replication in vitro. MeV is known to inhibit type I interferon (IFN) signaling, and retinoids are increasingly implicated in modulating innate immunity. Type I IFN blocking antibodies abrogated the inhibitory effects of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) on MeV replication (EC(50) of ATRA: 3.17 x 10(-8) M). IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) are up-regulated by ATRA in MeV-infected U937 cell cultures starting at 12 h and reaching a plateau at 24 h postinfection when compared to either treatment or infection alone. We found that this increased gene expression occurs in uninfected cells by using a transwell system where the uninfected cells were separated from infected cells by a membrane with 0.02-muM pores. Uninfected bystander cells from the ATRA-treated transwells did not support substantial viral replication when subsequently infected with MeV. In the absence of ATRA, the cells from the uninfected chamber did not up-regulate ISG expression and were not protected from subsequent challenge with virus. These results demonstrate that retinoids inhibit MeV replication by up-regulating elements of the innate immune response in uninfected bystander cells, making them refractory to productive infection during subsequent rounds of viral replication.
PMID: 19447880 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

But here's the funny bit.

In 1997 when Dr Cameron Grant and I had a huge spat over the phone as a result of me "incriminating" the health profession for not using vitamin A, he told me that nutrition wasn't a big problem in this country. I told him it was, and challenged him to do a study on it.

he did, and the results were commented on in the NZ Herald in 2005. They found:


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=9006061
National News


>> Home (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm) >> National News (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1)



Vitamin lacking in 1 of 10 toddlers



10.01.05
by Simon Collins



One in every 10 Auckland infants is growing up with Third World-type vitamin deficiencies.

A four-year study led by paediatrician Cameron Grant, of the Starship children's hospital, has found that 12 per cent of Auckland toddlers aged from six months to two years do not have enough vitamin A, a deficiency that causes blindness in more than 250,000 children in developing countries each year.

Ten per cent of the Auckland infants - despite living in a country with bountiful sun and outdoor space - do not get enough vitamin D, a substance the body makes when it is exposed to sunlight. The study also found a quarter of Auckland infants have too little iron in their blood.

The study shows that many New Zealanders either do not know what is good for them and their children to eat, or cannot afford to buy the foods they need.

'We suspect that if we are finding these micronutrient deficiencies in a proportion of children, it implies that there are probably other micronutrients that are also deficient, and we suspect they may be having adverse effects on children's health," said Dr Grant.

Vitamin A deficiency was not common in developed countries, but it was a problem in the developing world and because some of New Zealand's infectious diseases epidemiology mirrored that, the doctors decided to study vitamins also.

Dr Grant also leads a study on Auckland's rate of childhood pneumonia, which is five to 10 times higher than in the United States. The high rate of such diseases was due partly to increasingly overcrowded houses in the past 10 to 15 years, and variable access to family doctors, he said. But it now seemed that illness also stemmed partly from poor diet.

Vitamin A, which is made in the body mainly from red fruits and vegetables such as peaches and carrots, is crucial for seeing at night. It also helps to protect the body against infectious diseases.

"If a child is admitted to hospital with measles, we give them a treatment of vitamin A," he said.

Humans need only a tiny amount of iron in the diet, around a hundredth of a gram a day. Yet it is essential to make the haemoglobin molecules in blood that carry oxygen around the body and give people strength and energy.

Dr Grant said the 24 per cent rate of iron deficiency in his study was similar to studies in the US 30 years ago where deficiency is now about 10 per cent with iron supplements common in food and for pregnant women and babies.

Here only infant formula was fortified.

"In the US, you can pick up some cereals with a magnet," Dr Grant said.

Finally, vitamin D, the "sunlight vitamin", helps the body to absorb calcium and other minerals to build bones. Children who get too little of it develop rickets, with soft bones, bow legs, a curved spine and poor teeth.

"We have babies admitted to hospital with vitamin D deficiency which is so severe that they have rickets, and their calcium levels in the blood are so low that they have convulsions," Dr Grant said.

This is partly a cultural problem and is most prevalent in groups that keep their children, particularly girls, indoors. Out of 18 vitamin D-deficient Auckland infants studied in 1998, about 12 were Indian and the others included a Moroccan, an Ethiopian and an Indonesian, as well as a Tongan and a Maori.

Dr Grant said the best way to make sure infants got the vitamins they needed was to keep fully breastfeeding a baby for at least four to six months and then gradually supplement breast milk with iron-fortified infant formulas rather than cow's milk.

His study is based on a random sample of 416 infants in the Auckland region. Blood tests were taken between 1999 and 2002.

Going without

10 per cent of Auckland infants have vitamin deficiencies.

12 per cent of those aged 6 months to two years do not have enough Vitamin A.

10 per cent do not get enough Vitamin D.

25 per cent do not have enough iron in their blood.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's the "joke" about this. Cameron Grant went on to publish articles about "iron" and Vitamin D (he didn't know in those days, that vitamin D could prevent influenza, or I'm sure he would have shut up about that too) ... BUT... he never published anything about vitamin A. We can't undermine a measles vaccine, can we, or admit that the deaths and complications in this country were because pig-headed doctors refused to use vitamin A! He knew that I was right - that vitamin A reduces measles to nuisance value, but he was too gutless to write about it, AND he's stayed silent last year, and this year, while everyone has hyped vaccines on the basis that " measles can kill".

The fact is that all those deaths and complications happened because New Zealand doctors wouldn't listen to either the medical literature, or me talking about their medical literature.

and I bet no doctors ever tell the parents to use vitamin a either....

Clinically.....I NEVER use vitamin A alone. I always used either Halibut Liver oil or Cod Liver oil, because both those oils have vitamin D as well and both are necessary with measles. I also use vitamin C as well.


But you have no need to use any of that, unless your children get measles. if they are healthy, and eat properly, they should do just fine.

[Merry]

WOW, Hilary you are amazing. You have instantly put my mind at rest. I took our daughter to my naturopath and the only thing that she was lacking was B12. I guess the only other question I have is how do I administer the vitamin A and what form does it come in? Do I take the vitamin A myslef and have it go through my breastmilk or would I give it her directly?

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

If she gets sick, and you want her to have it directly, then crack a capsule with your teeth, squeeze the oil onto your finger, and smear it inside her cheek.

As a breastfeeding mother you should get plenty of sun every day, and if you wish to take CLO, there's no reason why you shouldn't. All depends on your diet. :)

[Merry]

Groovy, thank you so much. My diet is generally very good so there shouldn't be any problems there. Thank you again so much, you are amazing and all the years that you have selflessly dedicated to finding answers is greatly appreciated by all us "underground" thinkers!! Have a great day!

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

Usually, if someone is B12 deficient, that also means that they a "other" vitamin B deficient as well... it's very unusual to find that people are "just" B12 deficient. So I'm not sure about what your naturopath said.

It's always important to question everyone, no matter what "system" they adhere to.

[TanyaL]

WOW, Hilary you are amazing. You have instantly put my mind at rest. I took our daughter to my naturopath and the only thing that she was lacking was B12. I guess the only other question I have is how do I administer the vitamin A and what form does it come in? Do I take the vitamin A myslef and have it go through my breastmilk or would I give it her directly?

My understanding is that vitamin A changes slowly in breastmilk, as mom's consumption changes. If you wanted to make a fast impact for your LO, I think you'd need to supplement directly. I think you supplementing B12 for yourself would change your breastmilk quite a bit faster than the vitA supplementation would. If your LO is low in B12, I'd explore whether you could be as well. At least for me, my kids' weaknesses are mine, and my weaknesses are theirs; we are very closely linked.

Vitamin A is fat soluble and we should have a large amount stored, so that we're not negatively impacted by short times of low consumption. But it's possible to really be depleted, and if that's the case, it takes a while to build up to a good amount--at least it seems to be taking a while for my kids.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10635750 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10635750) Here's the news article.

[Wonder-Full]

Yep, the wellington outbreak is here in Kapiti at the Steiner school (I have a lot of friends whose children go there) - only one confirmed case at this stage from what I gather, but heaps of other sick kids with the same symptoms. MoHwere in during the week handing out info. Stink timing that my DS has relapsed and back on the steroids. We'll be hibernating I think for a month or two until his immune system has recovered.

[Merry]

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10635750 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10635750) Here's the news article.

Well there seem to be a few descrepancies in that article and i love this bit.....

'The DHB has asked Northland's primary healthcare centres to recall patients aged 12 months to 20 years who have not received the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and offer it; and offer it to unvaccinated adults born after 1969 when they next see a health worker.'

The doctors must be a bit strapped for cash after the long weekend and need their $60 for each vaccination that they give.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

and if they read my latest blog they would not be happy.

www.beyondconformity.org.nz (http://www.beyondconformity.org.nz)

[MinorityView]

You are a scaremonger. Scaring people into using Vitamin A or cod liver oil, when sensible people go get the vaccine...

this is a seriously ass-backwards world.

[Momtezuma Tuatara]

But why MV... it's in their own literature. If they knew how, and where to find the information that is....

[justine]

The doctors must be a bit strapped for cash after the long weekend and need their $60 for each vaccination that they give.

I'm shocked - $60 - Is that just for the MMR or does each vaccine have a different value?

[MinorityView]

But why MV... it's in their own literature. If they knew how, and where to find the information that is....

see my post on medical librarianship on another thread.

Doctors don't know how to search or interpret their own literature.

[Merry]

Each vaccine they dish out, the individual doctor is paid $60. My sister has a GP that practices alternative therapies as well as the mainstream and he willingly told them this info. I have seen 3 GP's over the last 6 months and when I have queried them about this $60 bonus, none of them have denied it and one admitted to it reluctantly. How do they sleep at night?!!!

[Merry]

and if they read my latest blog they would not be happy.

www.beyondconformity.org.nz (http://www.beyondconformity.org.nz)

Love the blog!