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| Chickenpox outbreak leads to quarantine |
| By Houston Chronicle |
| Published: 10/11/2004 |
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Prisoners in two cellblocks of the state's Eastham prison unit near Huntsville, Texas were under quarantine last Monday after two inmates contracted chickenpox, a highly contagious, potentially fatal, childhood disease. A prison spokeswoman said the infected inmates were moved to medical units at other prisons last week, and 140 other inmates are being closely monitored for signs of the viral disease, which can develop into pneumonia or meningitis. Symptoms include sore throat, fever, irritability, achiness and an itchy rash that covers the body with 250 to 500 blisters and sometimes spreads to internal organs. The disease, caused by the varicella virus that also causes the painful nerve disorder shingles, is spread by contact, coughing and sneezing. Chickenpox victims can transmit the disease to others two to three days before their rash develops. It normally takes two to three weeks for infected individuals to show signs of the disease. Michelle Lyons, spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said chickenpox vaccinations are being offered to quarantined inmates who have not become immune to the illness through childhood infection or vaccination. Post-exposure vaccination can prevent infection or lessen its severity, she said. She did not know how many of the shots have been given. Forty-nine prisoners in Cellblock H, an administrative segregation unit reserved for the most troublesome offenders, and 91 prisoners in Cellblock L will be locked down until midweek. |
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