Some school-age children and teenagers in Northwest Arkansas school districts have recently contracted chickenpox, leading them to miss classes, and some of their nonvaccinated classmates to miss classes as well, school officials said this week.
New state health regulations in effect beginning this fall require all school-age children to receive two doses of the chickenpox, or varicella, vaccine. State health officials have directed schools to keep students out of class if they were in close contact with children who had chickenpox, and either were exempt from getting vaccinations or had not received their second doses within a few days of their exposure.
"If they have been infected, it will take 21 days to develop the disease," said Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, medical director for immunizations for the Arkansas Department of Health. "They cannot come back to school until after that 21 days have passed and they are free of chickenpox."
State vaccination regulations apply to all children attending child care facilities, public schools and private schools unless they provide proof of immunity from a medical professional, or receive medical, religious or philosophical exemptions from the state Department of Health.
In Arkansas, children had 30 days after the beginning of school to receive second doses of the chickenpox vaccine. That deadline would have been around Sept. 16 in most districts, Dillaha said.
Health Department spokesman Kerry Krell said the department is aware of chickenpox cases in Northwest Arkansas and is investigating possible cases in southwest and central Arkansas.
The Fayetteville and Van Buren districts each excluded about 10 nonvaccinated students from school recently, district officials said.
In Fayetteville, state health officials instructed workers at the high school to identify all students in classes with five infected students or who were involved with them in extracurricular activities, said Melissa Thomas, director of nursing for Fayetteville Public Schools. The district called 180 students and placed automated phone calls to alert other families.
Those who did not receive the vaccinations by Sept. 17 or have exemptions will be held out of school in Fayetteville until the coming Wednesday.
"Since it was circumstances outside of their control, the school won't count them absent for final exams and absenteeism," Thomas said. "The school will work diligently to help them make up their schoolwork."
In Bentonville, which reported having eight students infected with the chickenpox, School Board member Rebecca Powers' son is among the children being kept out of school for 21 days. She sought a vaccination exemption on the basis of religious reasons.
She said she understands that the district is following the state's rules, but she has mixed feelings about the situation.
"I'm feeling a little more bullied to get him the vaccine," she said of her son.
District spokesman Paul Stolt said officials are following the Health Department regulations for families who have decided not to have their children vaccinated and are treating the Powers family like they would any other family. A little more than 200 families in the district have been granted immunization exemptions from the state, he said. He did not know how many students were being kept out of school.
In central Arkansas, the Pulaski County Special School District this week received a deadline extension for compliance with the new immunization requirements, spokesman Deborah Roush said Friday.
The new deadline to submit proof of vaccinations in the Pulaski County Special district is Dec. 19. Any student who does not have required immunizations or approved exceptions by that time will not be allowed to return to school on Jan. 5.
Roush said the district's facilitator of health services, Cynthia Hines, sought the extension because of the difficulty families were experiencing in getting timely medical appointments, the shortage of some vaccines, and the large number of middle and high school students in the district who are still lacking immunizations.
The Little Rock School District is requiring parents, by Wednesday, to provide schools with updated immunization records on their children or appointment dates for when their children will get their shots. Failure to provide either will mean that the children will be excluded from school until that information is provided.
In Northwest Arkansas, the Booneville, Rogers, Siloam Springs and Van Buren school districts each had one student become ill with chickenpox this month, school officials reported. Also, the Kingston campus of the Jasper School District reported such an illness.
In Booneville, seven students were given until last Monday to receive vaccinations.
In Siloam Springs, after a chickenpox case was detected, about 20 children were found to have not received their second doses of the vaccine, said Jody Wiggins, assistant superintendent for the district. All of them have since received those second doses, she said, and one child who had an exemption ultimately got vaccinated.
Elsewhere in the state, neither a shortage of the vaccine nor decisions to seek exemptions from the vaccination requirements appeared to have an effect on public school attendance.
Arkadelphia School District spokesman Sean Ruggles said parents of only two students in the district had sought exemptions, and no students currently have chickenpox.
Judy Morris, a nursing supervisor for the Harrison School District, said 30 students in the district received vaccination exemptions, and no students there were currently infected.
Jim Tucker, superintendent for the El Dorado School District, said 11 students in his district received exemptions, and no students there were currently infected. He said Union County is experiencing a shortage of the varicella vaccine, however.
Information for this article was contributed by Ryan McGeeney and Cynthia Howell of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and Dave Perozek of NWA Media.
State Desk on 09/27/2014