A Washington school has pulled 38 students for failing to produce chickenpox vaccine documentation.
A spokesperson for Battle Ground Public Schools says there are five confirmed cases of the illness. They believe that both staff and students were exposed to the illness between October 13th and October 17th.
School policy deems that any student or staff without proper immunization documentation that includes the chickenpox vaccine must stay away from school for three weeks.
The unvaccinated staff and students will be able to return to the school’s premises for class and work on November 12th. In order to return earlier, students or staff must provide proof that they received the chickenpox vaccine.
Here is the exact list per KATU.
- Proof of date of birth before 1980.
- Record of at least one dose of the chickenpox vaccine verified by a licensed healthcare provider.
- A letter from a licensed healthcare provider documenting infection with and full recovery from previous chickenpox illness.
- A letter from a licensed health care provider that confirms a blood test or serology showing chickenpox immunity.
But in a glaring hypocrisy, the school is continuing to warn those who have been immunized against chickenpox to watch out for symptoms. As well, there have been no statements regarding the vaccine statuses of the five confirmed to have chickenpox.
Randy, you may not have lifelong immunity against shingles. Those who had chickenpox when younger relied on being naturally boosted as they got older, by being around children with chkn pox. Since there isn’t the wild chkn pox like there used to be, we may not be boosted as we should be and what would have been lifelong immunity may perhaps wane.