44 students need chicken pox vaccination, 6 confirmed to have virus

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - Local high school and elementary students and teachers are being assessed and properly vaccinated for chicken pox.

The move comes after the Vigo County Health Department (VCHD) declared that at least 44 Terre Haute South students haven't been fully vaccinated, and six confirmed cases of the virus, including 4 from Booker T. Washington.

Symptoms for the virus have been appearing around Vigo County since the beginning of October and have been spreading throughout the county.

VCHD will hold a clinic on Wednesday from 7:30 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. at Terre Haute South Vigo High School for students identified as needing the Varicella vaccine.

The health department has said that students  from Booker T. Washington Alternative School have also been assessed, with few needing vaccination and will be included in Wednesday's clinic.

Information about the virus, symptoms and the importance of the vaccination will be given to students and faculty at the end of the school day Tuesday.

VCHD also said exclusion from school will begin tomorrow morning for individuals not meeting the immunization requirements.

Currently employee status for chicken pox is being assessed.

• VACCINATION INFORMATION SHEET FOR CHICKEN POX | Click here to view

Chicken Pox case information for:

Terre Haute South Vigo

• Estimated Enrollment:  1,797
• Needing Proper Vaccination:  44
• Number of Confirmed Cases of Chicken Pox:  2

Booker T. Washington

• Estimated Enrollment:  48
• Needing proper vaccination:  0
• Number of Confirmed Cases of Chicken Pox:  4

The school is working hard to contact parents of students to be excluded to inform them of the clinic and their options to avoid exclusion.

Anyone not receiving a dose of vaccine who is not fully protected will be excluded from school beginning on Wednesday, October 31, 2012 extending until November 26, 2012.

This date could change in the event of another case being identified in the school.

Any students who have a parent documented history of disease may be screened further (not an immediate need) to determine the validity of that reported history.

High risk populations have been assessed at three other schools/locations due to a number of cases that brings them near outbreak threshold.

Those schools are: Lost Creek Elementary (approximately 613 enrolled), Meadows Elementary (approximately 275 enrolled) and Sam's Daycare/Vigo County Headstart (approximately 200 children with only 1 dose of vaccine).