Chickenpox is highly contagious to people who have not been vaccinated or exposed to this disease which causes cheery red, itchy, blister-like splotches to cover every crevice of your body.
This disease was exposed to students throughout the school ,which called for an immediate incubation period of 21 days. This applied to students who had not been exposed or had chickenpox in the past, or have not received the second booster shot to help prevent the chances of getting this disease.
Recently the craziness of the rapid Ebola outbreaks that have reached our neighbor state has everyone cautious of any type of disease or sickness. Chickenpox is usually thought of as just a little disease that is mostly seen in younger children, and the number of people that are getting it now a days is slim to none. As we all saw chicken pox as something of the past it crept its way into the halls of our school. No one expected to be interrupted in class by the school nurse, and assistant principal to inform you that an anonymous student in your class has exposed to us all the chickenpox virus.
The feeling of panic was written all over the faces of students to my left and right , immediately my body began to itch just at the thought of chickenpox. This little disease was not so little anymore.
Recently a law was passed that all students much recieve the second dose of the Varicella vaccine if they have not had it already. So with the pressure of the law now at hand, students were told to precisely make an appointment to get the shot before returning to school.
If students didn’t do this they were not allowed to return till 21 days passed or attend any school activities such as homecoming, football games, volleyball games, etc. Like most, I made an immediate appointment and got the shot so I could return to school.
The craziness of the rush to prevent this disease was visible through teachers and administration. I believe that this time of year the many sicknesses and diseases that are rapidly striking states and countries all over the world have definitely opened the eyes of everyone, and made people cautious of even the smallest viruses in fear that it could develop into something greater, like Ebola.