About That Chickenpox Outbreak in New York

Anti-vax folks really seem to be excited about a new case of chickenpox at a school in New York.

A case that wasn’t report until after they implemented new rules that eliminated religious vaccine exemptions.

About That Chickenpox Outbreak in New York

So does this chickenpox pox case or outbreak in New York somehow mean that their plan isn’t working?

Of course not!

For one thing, it is only one case.

Remember that chickenpox outbreak in Kentucky last Spring? At least 32 kids ended up getting chickenpox!

That shouldn’t happen at this school in New York, as there hopefully aren’t even 32 unvaccinated kids left to get sick. There might be though…

Wait, how could there be 32 unvaccinated kids if they have eliminated non-medical exemptions?

Well, since the law just went into effect at the start of this school year, kids likely haven’t had time to get fully vaccinated.

Wait, what?

Children who are not fully immunized can continue to attend school if they are in the process of completing the ACIP catch-up schedule or if they are otherwise exempt from immunization requirements. A school shall not refuse to admit a child based on immunization requirements, if that child is “in process.”

New York School Immunization Q&A

Also, for some reason, “students entering grades 5, 11 and12 for the 2018-19 school year are only required to have received one dose of varicella vaccine.”

Remember, to be considered fully vaccinated against chickenpox, kids should have two doses of the chickenpox vaccine.

So it should be easy to see that there may be students in New York schools who are only partially vaccinated.

What else?

The deadline for kids to get vaccinated was September 17 and the vaccine takes at least two weeks to work.

The case was reported on October 18.

Add in the 10 to 21 day incubation period and it is very possible that this was a student who was initially unvaccinated and developed chickenpox before his vaccine had time to work!

Whaddya know!!

Are there any other possibilities?

Could it simply be a student with breakthrough chickenpox? A child who was vaccinated, but developed chickenpox anyway?

Sure.

While the chickenpox is said to be 100% effective at preventing severe cases of chickenpox, you can still sometimes get milder, breakthrough infections, even after two doses.

Or the case could be in a teacher or other school worker.

What about shedding?

While the chickenpox vaccine is said to rarely cause a rash, it typically occurs at the site of injection, so it is unlikely that it would be confused with a full blown case of chickenpox. And this rash rarely gets others sick.

The bottom line though is that with fewer fully unvaccinated students in school now, this is unlikely to develop into a big outbreak.

More on Chickenpox Outbreaks

• Did Bobby Kennedy Admit That Chickenpox Kills People?
• What Makes Your Healthy Unvaccinated Child a Threat?
• How Can the Unvaccinated Spread Diseases They Don’t Have?
• Who Is at Risk If You Don’t Vaccinate Your Kids?
• Responses to New Vaccine Laws
• Abuse of Vaccine Exemptions
• Can Schools Remove Unvaccinated Kids?
• Who Dies from Chicken Pox?
• 10 Myths About Chicken Pox and the Chicken Pox Vaccine
• Believe It or Not, Chicken Pox Parties Are Still a Thing
• More Questions to Help You Become a Vaccine Skeptic
• Ask the Experts About Chicken Pox
• Governor Cuomo Signs Legislation Removing Non-Medical Exemptions from School Vaccination Requirements
• NY School Vaccination Requirements
• How Far Would You Go to Avoid Vaccinating Your Child?
• Deadline for unvaccinated students arrives in New York schools
• An unvaccinated teen who sued over school ban got chickenpox. His dad says that’s a good thing
• Chickenpox Outbreak Grows to 32 Students at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart/Assumption Academy
• Stroke: An underappreciated complication of chickenpox that we should never see
• Chickenpox prevents glioma – not a reason to avoid the vaccine