Prosecution as an unvaccinated teenager banned by an American school in the event of an epidemic

A Kentucky teenager suing his local health authorities after banning all unvaccinated students.

The Notre Dame Academy of the Sacred Heart of Walton is fighting against an epidemic of chicken pox that has already sickened at least 32 students.

Jerome Kunkel, 18, says his rights have been violated by banning him from playing basketball.

He is not one of the students who caught the virus.

Kunkel, who was captain of his team, has been banned from school since the Northern Kentucky Department of Health banned him on March 14.

The notification says that because of the outbreak of chicken pox, students who have not been vaccinated or who are already immunized against infection have to stay at home until they reach the hospital. to 21 days after the start of the eruption of the last student or member of the sick staff ".

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The statement, which also banned all extracurricular activities, said it was "in direct response to a threat to public health and was an appropriate and necessary response to prevent the spread of this contagious disease".

Jerome Kunkel's father, Bill Kunkel, said the vaccines were derived from aborted fetuses, which went against his family's religious beliefs.

"I do not believe in this vaccine at all and they try to make it believe," he told WLWT-News.

Some viruses currently used for vaccine manufacture are developed in cell lines originating from medical researchers of two human fetuses aborted electively in the 1960s.

But drug manufacturers and health officials said no new human material has been used since then to produce vaccines.

The Catholic Church told its members that it is morally justifiable to use these vaccines, although it urged health care developers to develop alternative treatments without "using cell lines of illicit origin ".

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Jerome Kunke told WLWT-News that he was unhappy with this ban, and especially what it meant for his basketball team.

"The fact that I can not finish my last year in basketball, as in our last two games, is rather devastating," he said.

"I mean, you spent four years in high school playing basketball, you're looking forward to your last year."

A hearing is scheduled for April 1st.

Chickenpox is a highly contagious virus that causes blisters, itching and fever.

Before creating a vaccine, about four million Americans contracted the disease each year, according to the Children 's Hospital of Philadelphia.

At present, only about 12,000 people catch it every year.

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