An anti-vaccine community responsible for the outbreak of chickenpox in North Carolina

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A school in North Carolina with a large anti-vaccine community is at the heart of the largest epidemic of chicken pox in the state for decades, officials said.

On Friday, 36 students from the Asheville Waldorf School were diagnosed with this disease, reported the newspaper Asheville Citizen-Times.

The school has one of the highest religious exemption rates in the state, allowing students to skip immunization.

US health authorities have stated that vaccination is much safer than chickenpox.

"This is the biggest outbreak of chicken pox that health officials have seen since the vaccine is available," a spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Health told the BBC in a statement.

Of the 152 students at the Waldorf School, 110 have not received the chickenpox vaccine, known as chickenpox, according to the Citizen-Times.

And according to state data, 67.9% of kindergarten students had religious immunization exemptions recorded in their records during the 2017-2018 school year.

The elementary school cooperates fully with local health authorities and complies with all North Carolina laws, said a school spokesman at the BBC.

"We find that our parents are very motivated to choose exactly what they want for their children.As a school, we do not discriminate based on medical history or medical condition of any kind. a child."

Buncombe County, home to the city of Asheville, has more than 250,000 residents and displays the highest rate of religious immunization exemptions for the state.

Local health officials are monitoring the situation closely, according to the County Health Department.

"We want to be clear: vaccination is the best protection against chickenpox," said county medical director Jennifer Mullendore in a statement.

"When we see a high number of unvaccinated children and adults, we know that a disease like chicken pox can spread easily throughout the community – in our playgrounds, our grocery stores and our sports teams. "

The North Carolina law imposes certain immunizations, including chickenpox, measles and mumps on kindergarten children, but the state allows medical and religious exemptions.

Most religions do not prohibit vaccination, but in recent years some American parents have been afraid of adverse reactions to vaccines.

While some bad reactions, such as allergies, to vaccines are possible, the medical community has dispelled the vast majority of these fears, and groups such as the World Health Organization and the American Academy of Pediatrics encourage vaccination.

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How severe is chickenpox?

Chickenpox is a viral infection that causes rashes, itching and fever. In severe cases, this can lead to complications such as inflammation of the brain, pneumonia and death.

The virus is transmitted through contact or coughing and sneezing, although it is not as contagious as measles, which can be transmitted without contact.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends vaccinating children aged 1 to 12 years. Although severe cases are rare, the CDC says that chickenpox spreads easily and can be fatal.

The varicella vaccine was approved in the United States in 1995. According to the CDC, the vaccine prevented 3.5 million cases of chickenpox, 9,000 hospitalizations and 100 deaths per year in the United States.

And while some people may still get chickenpox with the vaccine, it is very effective at preventing serious or life-threatening cases.

Vaccination also helps protect susceptible people who are unable to get vaccinated, such as pregnant women, infants under one year old and cancer patients.

In the United Kingdom, the chickenpox vaccine is listed as an optional vaccine for children.