Birmingham Schools Alert Parents to Chickenpox Worries

The Birmingham Public School district emailed hundreds of parents warning them to keep children who haven’t been vaccinated against chickenpox at home after three confirmed cases of the illness.

Three cases of chickenpox – one each at the Pierce Elementary School, Derby Middle School and Seaholm High School – have been confirmed, the Detroit Free Press reports.

The email said children who haven’t been vaccinated against the highly contagious disease should be kept home until April 14.

“For those who are unimmunized or do not have medical documentation of immunity, they are strongly recommended to be excluded from school for 21 days after the last date of possible exposure,” the email read in part.

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Marcia Wilkinson, a district spokesperson, said the emails were sent on the advice of Oakland County health officials.

Michigan children have been required to get two doses of the chickenpox vaccine – varicella – before entering kindergarten unless their parents obtain waivers.

Chickenpox has been on the decline in Michigan since 2007, when 4,000 cases were reported, according to data from the state health department. Last year, there were only 715 cases.

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Photo via U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention