Walnut Grove Elementary School is in the midst of a chickenpox outbreak that may have some kids excluded from classes for the rest of the school year.
The school has reported nine cases of chickenpox since late May. The last confirmed case at the school was reported to Clark County Public Health on May 31, said Monica Czapla, infectious disease program manager at Clark County Public Health.
“We commonly see chickenpox in schools,” she said. “We don’t commonly see this many cases.”
During outbreaks of contagious diseases, schools exclude students, staff and volunteers who are not vaccinated or do not have proof of disease immunity. Those excluded can return to the school once they’ve received at least one dose of the varicella vaccine or provide proof from a medical provider of disease immunity.
When the outbreak was declared at Walnut Grove last month, 57 children were excluded from school. That number has been cut down to 18 as students either received the vaccine or submitted proof of past vaccination or disease immunity, said Pat Nuzzo, spokeswoman for Vancouver Public Schools. Ten of the 18 currently excluded children are unvaccinated; the other eight are expected to return to school with confirmation of immunity, Nuzzo said.
The exclusion period is for 21 days — the incubation period for chickenpox is 10 to 21 days — and restarts with every new confirmed case. With the last confirmed case coming on May 31, the exclusion period currently runs until the end of the school year. The last day of classes is June 21.
This is the second chickenpox outbreak at a Vancouver elementary school this year. In January, Sifton Elementary had a nine-case outbreak.
Highly contagious
Chickenpox is a highly contagious disease caused by the varicella-zoster virus. The
virus causes a blistery rash that first appears on the stomach, back and face and can spread across the entire body, causing between 250 and 500 itchy blisters, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Those with chickenpox can be contagious before the rash appears. Those with confirmed cases of chickenpox can return to school once they’re no longer contagious, which occurs when the blisters scab, Czapla said.
Chickenpox is usually mild in children but can cause serious complications in children younger than 1, adults, pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems.
‘Not totally benign’
“It is not a totally benign disease, which I know is the perception a lot of parents have,” Czapla said.
The state Department of Health requires two doses of the varicella vaccine for children entering kindergarten. The first dose is recommended when the child is 12 to 15 months old, the second between the ages of 4 and 6.
Two of the nine confirmed cases of chickenpox at Walnut Grove had at least one dose of the varicella vaccine, but it’s unclear whether they were fully immunized.
At Walnut Grove Elementary, 10.2 percent of students have immunization exemptions — one of about 10 local public schools with exemption rates of 10
percent or higher. The county exemption rate is 7.1 percent; the state rate is 5.3 percent, according to state health department data.
“This just illustrates the importance of vaccination,” Czapla said. “High vaccination rates help prevent outbreaks like this in schools.”
