Chickenpox epidemic in North Carolina due to vaccination exemptions

The Asheville Waldorf School, which serves students from kindergarten to grade six, is part of an educational movement that adheres to a philosophy focused on physical activity and learning by means of practical tasks, according to his website. There are more than 900 Waldorf schools in 83 countries, and the Asheville School, founded in 2009, is one of about 160 schools in the United States.

Chickenpox is a highly contagious disease that causes rashes, itching, fatigue and fever, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease is caused by varicella zoster virus and a vaccine was introduced in 1995. Two doses of the vaccine, administered between 12 months and 15 months and then between 4 and 6 years, are effective at about 90% to prevent chickenpox. .

Although North Carolina requires vaccination of all school children, the state allows medical and religious exemptions. Nevertheless, vaccination rates in the state exceeded national numbers in 2013 and 2014, according to publicly available information.

Dr. Jennifer Mullendore, Medical Director of Buncombe County, said that last year, Asheville Waldorf's kindergarten class had the highest percentage of religious exemptions in the county and among the higher of the state. The state as a whole expects about 1.2 percent of religious exemptions among children enrolled in kindergarten, she said.

Mullendore said last year 's numbers are the most recent because the data has not been collected and analyzed for the current school year.

Isolation and quarantine

To monitor the situation in Asheville Waldorf, the health department asked the school to continue to send him information on any new cases, she said. Meanwhile, the school asks anyone with the disease to stay at home, while classmates of a contagious person (although not yet sick) must stay home for 21 days.

"The reason is that it can take 21 days before someone is exposed to chicken pox to actually develop the signs and symptoms of chicken pox," Mullendore said. "We do not want to keep these children at home, if the child gets a dose of chicken pox vaccine, he can return immediately to school."

Children whose parents provide evidence of immunity, such as blood tests or a statement from a doctor, may also return to school, she said.

This quarantine 21 days is "our last resort to contain and stop the spread of the disease so that we see no more cases and so that no one is left with a complication," said Mullendore. No complications and no hospitalization have been reported, she added.

"We can not predict who will end up with complications," she said. "There are reports of previously healthy children ending up in the hospital because of chicken pox – or dying because of chicken pox."

Most parents do not hesitate to vaccinate

"The chickenpox vaccine and all the vaccines are safe and effective," she said.

While the majority of major religious groups say that MMR vaccine should be mandatory for healthy schoolchildren, white Evangelical Protestants tend to express less support for requiring MMR vaccine. Similarly, people without religious affiliation express less support for the vaccine, according to Pew.

Mullendore said that what was happening in Asheville Waldorf "demonstrates what happens when an unvaccinated population does not receive the vaccine.It offers the opportunity for the infection to spread in this community and transmit it easily.

"I vaccinated my child," she said.