Students at a top US college are being told to quarantine if they develop symptoms of chickenpox amid an outbreak of the disease on the main campus.
Three cases of the highly transmissible infection have been detected at Penn State University, prompting the alert.
All the cases were on the University Park campus, the main campus at the university which has about 42,000 students.
It isn’t clear whether the patients are staff or students, but university officials say they have found the ‘origin’ of the outbreak and are now informing close contacts.
Students who were in the Mifflin Hall between February 17 and 24 and the Thomas building on February 20 between 1 and 3pm are being warned they may have been exposed to the virus.
Officials say students should check their vaccination status and isolate and contact university health services if they develop symptoms of the disease.
It comes amid mounting outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in the US, with Texas recording its first death from measles in a decade and an alert being issued for travelers to JFK International Airport in New York after a measles case was detected.
Longtime vaccine sceptic and HHS head RFK Jr. made a sudden U-turn over the weekend, urging people to get vaccinated against measles and other diseases.
Three cases of chickenpox have been detected on Penn State’s University Park campus
It is not the first time the university has issued an alert over chickenpox, after a possible exposure ahead of a dance marathon was reported in 2015.
Chickenpox is a highly contagious diseases that typically triggers an itchy rash with red spots and fluid-filled blisters on the chest, back and face.
It is caused by the varicella virus, and primarily affects children but can occur at any age — and is more likely to be deadly among adults.
The disease spreads via touching a rash or breathing in droplets expelled in the coughs and sneezes of patients that contain the virus.
About 1.5 out of every 100,000 child patients die from the disease, compared to about 30 out of every 100,000 adults who contract the infection.
In serious cases, chickenpox can cause infected blisters, pneumonia, bleeding disorders and brain swelling.
The disease can be prevented with two doses of the Varivax vaccine, which is 98 percent effective against the chickenpox virus.
The Mayo Clinic says that otherwise healthy children often need no treatment when they are infected, and that the disease just needs to run its course.
But in people who are at high risk of complications, including adults, doctors may prescribe antiviral medications to reduce symptoms and shorten the length of the disease — typically about four to seven days.
The United States was the first in the world to start vaccinating against chickenpox, with its program being rolled out in 1995.
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