by Amy L. Hatch
Physicians and public health officials want to assure parents that there is no confirmed outbreak of chicken pox in Champaign-Urbana.
Several students at a local daycare center and private school were seen for a rash and symptoms indicative of atypical chicken pox (the form of the disease that occurs in kids who have been immunized against it). However, only one child has an actual confirmed case of the disease, according to Carle Hospital pediatrician Dr. Scott Stephens and officials from Champaign-Urbana Public Health.
Stephens tells chambanamoms.com that a confirmed case is one that has been diagnosed by a physician and/or confirmed by bloodwork.
He adds that Illinois Department of Public Health defines an outbreak as five or more confirmed cases. He also says that yes, kids who have been immunized can get chicken pox.
“If vaccinated, children resistance (to the disease is) between 80 and 90 percent after the first immunization,” Stephens says. “However, 10 to 30 percent of kids who get the vaccine will get what is called atypical chicken pox.”
Atypical chicken pox is a milder form of the illness, and kids present with a low-grade fever (102-degrees or lower), and an itchy rash that looks more like bug bites than the lesions you may remember from your bout with chicken pox.
Other facts about chicken pox:
- Both typical and atypical chicken pox has an incubation period of 10 to 14 days.
- Kids with typical or atypical chicken pox are contagious for one to two days before they break out in a rash, and remain so until their lesions are gone.
- Typical chicken pox will present with a high fever (higher than 102-degrees) and large lesions that are raised and filled with fluid.
- Adults who are exposed to children with chicken pox can be at risk for shingles.
- Typical chicken pox can be very dangerous, especially for adults who did not have the disease as young children, and it can lead to infections in the brain, heart and other vital organs.
Children who have not been vaccinated for chicken pox (and we know there are some of you in Chambana) should be vigilant for the first signs and symptoms, says Dr. Stephens, and should remember to wash their hands frequently.
Even if your child has atypical chicken pox, keep them isolated until their rash has disappeared, as they could put other kids — vaccinated or not — at risk for the disease.
Stephens does point out that there is no reason for Champaign-Urbana parents to panic.
“We’re not seeing a huge outbreak, by any means,” he says.