AUGUSTA, Maine - The Maine Center for Disease Control and prevention says the state has nearly double the number of chicken pox cases this school year compared with last.
Dr. Christopher Pezzullo, chief health officer for the state, says, since September, there have been 85 cases. In the same timeframe last year, there were 44.
"What I'm going to attribute both the numbers to is the fact that our immunization rates are slightly lower than the national average for chicken pox," Pezzullo says.
Pezzullo says Maine has a 90 percent immunization rate for chicken pox. He says the goal is to boost that rate to 95 percent to help ensure herd immunity - that is, when a certain percentage of the population is immunized to protect those who can't get the vaccine.
