Erie County sees 8 cases of chickenpox in September
Erie County saw more cases of chickenpox in September than it has in any one month since October 2008.
However, a local health official doesn't believe the county is in the midst of an outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease.
Eight cases of chickenpox, also known as varicella, were reported in September to the Erie County Department of Health. It accounts for nearly half of the 18 cases reported in the county so far this year.
"Four of the September cases came from one school in Erie County," said Charlotte Berringer, R.N., director of community health for the health department.
Berringer said she wasn't permitted to identify the school. The health department investigated the cases and determined there was no risk more children would be infected.
Despite the eight cases reported in September, Berringer said the county's overall cases in 2015 are similar to recent years.
The county health department has reported between eight and 24 cases a year since 2010.
"We don't see a lot of it, but it's still out there," Berringer said.
Chickenpox is a contagious, viral infection known primarily for causing an uncomfortable, itchy rash.
The rash turns into fluid-filled blisters and eventually into scabs.
Most children who develop chickenpox recover from it completely, but it infected 4 million people and caused between 100 and 150 deaths a year in the United States before a vaccine was introduced in 1995.
Children receive two doses of the vaccine for full protection. The first dose is given when the child is 12 to 15 months old, and the second dose is given before the child enters kindergarten.
The incidence rate of chickenpox declined 82 percent from 2000 to 2010, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Childhood deaths from chickenpox declined by 98.5 percent from the early 1990s to 2008-09.
DAVID BRUCE can be reached at 870-1736 or by e-mail. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNbruce.