Boy of Five Dies in Chickenpox Outbreak
A BOY of five has died after catching chickenpox at school.
Christopher Rixon was in intensive care with complications from the disease, which is rarely a danger to children.
He had cerebral palsy and asthma, which may have made him more vulnerable.
Thetragedy has reignited calls for children to be vaccinated against chickenpox, as they are in America.
Two days after falling ill at home in Kingston, South West London, Christopher became seriously unwell and was taken to Kingston Hospital.
He was then sent to St Thomas’s Hospital in central London, but died from blood poisoning.
His mother Joanne said his school, King Athelstan Primary, should have warned parents of an outbreak among 20 pupils.
She added: ‘If I’d known, I may have kept Christopher offschool. I think he may have been a bit more vulnerable.’ Chickenpox kills 20 adults in Britain a year but childhood deaths are highly unusual.
Disease control expert Dr Paul Crook said: ‘This death is a very sad, rare individual reaction.’
A BOY of five has died after catching chickenpox at school.
Christopher Rixon was in intensive care with complications from the disease, which is rarely a danger to children.
He had cerebral palsy and asthma, which may have made him more vulnerable.
The tragedy has reignited calls for children to be vaccinated against chickenpox, as they are in America.
Two days after falling ill at home in Kingston, South West London, Christopher became seriously unwell and was taken to Kingston Hospital.
He was then sent to St Thomas’s Hospital in central London, but died from blood poisoning.
His mother Joanne said his school, King Athelstan Primary, should have warned parents of an outbreak among 20 pupils.
She added: ‘If I’d known, I may have kept Christopher off school. I think he may have been a bit more vulnerable.’ Chickenpox kills 20 adults in Britain a year but childhood deaths are highly unusual.
Disease control expert Dr Paul Crook said: ‘This death is a very sad, rare individual reaction.’
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