The unvaccinated student population at Mariposa Elementary School in Agoura Hills, Calif., has been asked to remain home for three weeks to inhibit the spread of an ongoing chickenpox outbreak, according to CBS Los Angeles.
In total, 90 unvaccinated children, or approximately 25 percent of the school's 400 students, have been asked to stay home. Officials made the decision after a kindergartener, a first-grader and a third-grader all exhibited symptoms of the virus. The first case was reported in mid-March.
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"Given that there were three cases ... [and] that they were in three different grades, the health department gave the directive to exclude students who are not immunized," said Daniel Stepenowsky, the superintendent of the Las Virgeness Unified School District, which includes Mariposa Elementary, according to CBS Los Angeles.
A new law in California that went into effect on July 1, 2016, bars parents from opting out of vaccinating their children for religious or personal objections, limiting the opportunities for vaccine avoidance to home schooling and medical exemption. However, schools only check a child's immunization records upon entry at kindergarten or seventh grade, meaning students outside of those grades do not have to have proof of vaccination to attend school.
Every year, the chickenpox virus causes approximately 10,600 hospitalizations and anywhere from 100 to 150 deaths. Two doses of the chickenpox vaccine is 90 percent effective at preventing the virus, according to the CDC.
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