Chicken pox reported in Winfield Kansas schools

January 12, 2008

Chicken pox reported in Winfield schools

City-Cowley County Health Department and USD 465 are cooperating on a response to several reported cases of chicken pox (varicella) in school-aged children in Winfield. In past years, chicken pox has been considered a rite of passage for children. Chicken pox is now considered a vaccine preventable disease.

As of Thursday, the only reported cases have been in elementary students, but with a 10-21 day incubation period, older siblings may begin to develop chicken pox over the next few weeks as well.

Children with chicken pox are most contagious before they develop symptoms which may include a rash, fever, mild cough, runny nose, or headache. Chicken pox is spread by direct contact with the rash or through the air from an infected person’s coughing or sneezing.

All children entering kindergarten were recommended to have had two doses of the chicken pox vaccine.

The recommended two-dose vaccine does not prevent chicken pox in all cases but children who have had both vaccinations are three times less likely to get chicken pox than those who have had only one dose. The vaccine almost always prevents severe cases of chicken pox, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

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