Chickenpox outbreak at North Carolina school linked to vaccine exemption of students
A private school in North Carolina is witnessing an alarming outbreak of Chickenpox with at least three dozen students falling ill to the highly-contagious disease. Health officials in the state have deemed the cases the largest outbreak in the region since a vaccine to prevent the viral infection became available in North Carolina over two decades ago, according to reports.
The affected students, who comprise nearly one-quarter of the school's student body, are all within the age range of 4 to 11 and attend the Asheville Waldorf School in Asheville, about 120 miles west of Charlotte, North Carolina. The medical director for Buncombe County Health & Human Services, Dr. Jennifer Mullendore, while talking to the New York Times, said that the children began falling ill in mid-September.