Chickenpox sends Moses Lake students home

Immunization records required

MOSES LAKE - Several Frontier Middle School students were prohibited from returning to class Monday until they verify their immunization against chickenpox.

Grant County Health District Administrator Peggy Grigg said students were exposed to chickenpox after a student caught it. Students who did not bring documentation of either vaccination or having previously recovered from chickenpox are prohibited from returning to class from the 10th day of exposure to the 21st day of exposure, Grigg said.

"The school has informed us they have provided multiple notifications to these parents," Grigg said.

Frontier Middle School Principal Chris Lupo said Monday he did not know how many students were excluded from school, since the number keeps changing.

Approximately 25 students, mostly in eighth grade, did not bring proof of immunization after two letters were sent home with them, Lupo said.

Students who showed up to school without updated records were kept away from other students by being placed in the school cafeteria, he said.

The school is following directives from the health district, Lupo noted.

"We're just doing what we're told," he said.

Frontier Middle School was notified by a student's physician Nov. 15 of a student having chickenpox. Two separate letters were sent home with eighth-grade students.

Proof of vaccination or previous experience with chickenpox was required starting with the 2006 to 2007 school year, Lupo said. Most sixth-and seventh-grade students already submitted proof, and the district was working to get updated records from the students who didn't, he said.

The approximately 30 sixth-grade students who did not provide proof of immunization either did not come to class or provided proof once a registered letter was sent home, Lupo said. Parents of the students were contacted with letters and phone calls.

Parents had the option of exempting their students from immunization. Exempt students cannot return to school during the 11-day incubation period, Lupo said.

Grigg said chickenpox is preventable, it can be serious, and there are vulnerable populations in the school district.

"I think the school is doing the best that they can to protect the health of the public in cooperation with us," Grigg said.