School warning on chicken pox in UAE

Published Thursday, May 30, 2013

By Sneha May Francis

A few schools in Dubai have warned parents about an increase in number of chicken pox cases in the emirate.

Parents of kids who study in Jumeriah Primary School were sent a note from the school nurse, informing them that they have registered a few cases in their school.

“Apart from detailing the symptoms of the disease, the note advices parents to keep their child at home (if diagnosed with the disease) until he/she has fully recovered,” explains a parent.

Sporadic cases were also reported at Modern School.

A parent informed that he was warned from taking his sick child (who had a stomach bug) to a hospital emergency because his child might contract the chicken pox virus when there.

“My friend, who was already at the hospital, told me it’s better to keep my child home and away from the more dangerous virus,” he recalled. “Many kids here are being treated for Chicken Pox”.

A pharmacist in Al Nahda reported that the numbers are high.

“I’ve seen many cases over the last few weeks,” he added.

“Yes, while this is the season, there’s no need to be alarmed,” explained Dr Fatima Al Attal, head of preventive services unit at the DHA.

“Chicken Pox has drastically come down over the last three years. And one of the reason is that the Chicken Pox vaccine is compulsory on the child heath immunization programme, which is followed by UAE.”

She listed out the statistics for the previous years to enunciate her point. “Number of cases in 2011 was 3,821 and in 2012, it went down to3,674”.

“If a child has contracted the disease, they should be kept home for nearly 10 days.

A laboratory assistant at City Hospital informed that the vaccination is priced at around Dh170, and will be administered following a check-up by a general physician.

Symptoms & treatment

Chickenpox is caused by varicella-zoster virus.

An infected person can spread it easily, while sneezing, coughing, or sharing food. You can also get it if you touch the fluid from a blister.

The first symptoms often are fever, headache and sore throat. The rash usually appears about a day or two after that. Some kids don’t have fever but just the rashes.

The infected child should not attend school, and it could take about 10 days for them to recover.

Most children need to be rest at home and take medicines to reduce fever and itching.

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