No ‘provider-confirmed’ cases of chicken pox at Agnes Gray

WEST PARIS — There have been no provider-confirmed reports of chicken pox in the Agnes Gray School as of Tuesday morning, according to Principal Beth Clarke.

On May 24, information began circulating Facebook that a child had been sent home from school with a case of chicken pox at the Agnes Gray Elementary School.

According to information that Clarke said she received from the school nurse, the school has been in contact with the Maine Center For Disease Control and students are being monitored for new rashes. Follow-ups are being made on those cases.

According to information from the Maine CDC. chicken pox is caused by an infection with the varicella zoster virus and is spread by coughing and sneezing, direct contact, and the virus being released into the air from skin legions.

The most common symptoms, according to the Maine CDC, are a skin rash found mostly on the face, scalp and trunk. An infected person may develop a fever just before a rash appears. A varicella vaccine is the best way to prevent the disease, according to the Maine CDC

Clarke said if the school does receive confirmation of a chicken pox case, parents will be notified and children who have not been vaccinated against chicken pox will be asked to stay at home.

Clarke said that according to the school nurse, there are a number of things that can cause rashes, particularly at this time of year, including bug bites, viral illnesses, hand, contact with brown tail moth and poison ivy.

Notes can not be sent home based on a “parent diagnosis” because of the risk of misinformation and misdiagnosis, she said.

The Maine CDC reported 55 cases in elementary school age children in Maine in 2017 out of some 200 cases reported. About 70 percent of those who got chicken pox were vaccinated.

Last year, about this time, MSAD 11, in the Gardiner area, reported to parents that they had one confirmed case of chicken pox and a suspected second. At the same time a day care center in Westbrook reported an outbreak of chicken pox.

The Maine CDC requires certain conditions, such as mumps and pertussis, to be reported immediately by telephone when there is “recognition or strong suspicion” of a disease. Others, such as chicken pox, are to be reported by telephone, fax, or an electronic lab report or mail within 48 hours of “recognition or strong suspicion of disease.”