Chickenpox Outbreak Hits Williamsburg's Orthodox Jewish Community

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — Chickenpox cases have spiked this spring within South Williamsburg's Orthodox Jewish population, according to NYC health officials.

“The Health Department is investigating a chickenpox outbreak in the Orthodox Jewish community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn," a department spokesman said Wednesday in a statement sent to Patch. "We are working closely with the affected community, including meeting with community leadership and notifying elected officials."

Seventy-five cases of chickenpox, or varicella, have been reported within the community in March, April and May, the spokesman said.

All the kids who've been affected have been under 10 years old, he said, and their median age has been 3 years old.

The outbreak appears to be at least partially a result of parents failing to vaccinate their kids.

According to city health officials, 72 percent of the Williamsburg kids who got chickenpox had not been vaccinated against it — and another 14 percent hadn't received the recommended number of vaccine doses.

The NYC Health Department has held meetings with local leaders in recent days to try and stem the outbreak.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): "Most children with chickenpox completely recover. But it can be serious, even deadly, especially for babies, pregnant women, adolescents, adults, and people with weakened immune systems."

Although children who get the varicella vaccine can still, in rare cases, come down with the chickenpox, their symptoms are often much milder than those in unvaccinated kids, the CDC says. Plus, they're less of a danger to other members of the community whose immune systems are too weak to handle the vaccine.

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