LIVERMORE FALLS — A Livermore Elementary School student with chickenpox was sent home Wednesday, along with 18 others who had not been vaccinated against the highly contagious viral infection, Superintendent Kenneth Healey said.

The state requires that all children have two vaccine shots for chickenpox, he said. Some of the 18 students had received one shot, while others had none, he said.

State law requires that children who have not been sufficiently vaccinated must be kept out of class for 16 days. Because the holiday break is from Dec. 24 to Jan. 2, the students will miss only a few days of school and will be allowed to make up any work they miss, he said.

Whooping cough, a highly contagious bacterial disease, was confirmed in a ninth-grade girl at Spruce Mountain High School in Jay in early October. She returned to class a week later after being administered antibiotics, Healey said.

Two weeks ago, a seventh-grade boy at Spruce Mountain Middle School in Jay was suspected of having whooping cough. He returned to class the following week after taking antibiotics, Healey said.

Healey said suspected cases are treated the same as confirmed cases.