Two schools reported incidences of chickenpox in Champaign County children on Tuesday, chambanamoms.com has learned.
One child affected attends a private preschool in Champaign, while the other is a student at Unity Junior High School in Tolono (part of the Unit 7 School District). There’s no word whether the incidences are connected. In both cases, parents at both schools were notified electronically of the exposure.
The Champaign Urbana Public Health District has confirmed the Tolono student is the fifth probable case of Chickenpox in Champaign County this year. In 2013, there were five cases and in 2014 there were 6.
Rachaella Thompson-Brown of the Champaign Urbana Public Health District said she’s not too concerned about the number of cases she’s seen to date this year.
“We usually have a handful (every year),” she said. “Based on the population for Champaign County, five cases is just not that alarming.”
Thompson-Brown said most of the Chickenpox cases in Champaign County have occurred in children in elementary school through college.
She also points out most of the cases are considered probable and not confirmed by a test.
“That means the child went to the doctor with fever, itchy rash, chicken pox like symptoms and were diagnosed based on a clinical presentation,” she said. “All probable and confirmed cases are recordable for public health. Some physicians will test but recommendations are the same.”
Suspected or confirmed cases of chickenpox must be reported to the local health department within 24 hours, according to Illinois state law. Schools are among those categorized by the state of Illinois as a “mandated reporter;” others include health care providers, hospitals and laboratories.
Should parents be concerned?
- If your child has received the varicella (chickenpox) vaccine, that child is considered 80 to 90 percent immune.
- According to the federal government, the vaccine almost always prevents severe disease. If a vaccinated person does get chickenpox, it is usually a very mild case lasting only a few days and involving fewer skin blisters (usually less than 50), mild or no fever, and few other symptoms.
- For outbreaks in preschool children, two doses of chickenpox vaccine are recommended for best protection. Most children receive the first dose after they’ve turned one, with the second dose typically given at age 4-6. However, they do not have to wait until turning 4.
- Those at increased risk for complications (generally pneumonia or bacterial infection of lesions) are immunocompromised persons, infants younger than 1 year of age, adolescents and adults, newborns whose mothers had chickenpox around the time of delivery, or premature infants whose mothers have not had chickenpox.
Symptoms, which usually start about two weeks after exposure (range is 10 to 21 days), include a fever, a feeling of tiredness and an itchy rash.
In Illinois, children have been required to have at least one dose of the varicella vaccine to enter kindergarten since 2002. Beginning with school year 2014-2015, any child entering kindergarten, sixth grade, or ninth grade for the first time shall show proof of having received two doses of varicella vaccine.
We will update this story as soon as we have more information.