The Healey and Wu administrations finally were forced to acknowledge highly infectious chickenpox cases at a migrant shelter in Roxbury this week but deliberately downplayed the outbreak for political reasons and released only limited information.
“There is no outbreak concern,” a Boston Public Schools official said – only after the Herald and other media asked about the outbreak.
The Department of Public Health also released only limited information about the rare cases of chickenpox, including refusing to identify the three public schools where the disease spread.
This from a governor and mayor who were in favor of draconian measures to stop COVID.
But chickenpox among migrants? Nothing to see here.
“We have learned that a member of our school community has been diagnosed with varicella (also known as chickenpox),” a letter from BPS to some families said. “The health and well-being of our students are our top priorities, and we are working closely with the Boston Public Health Commission to properly address the situation.”
It was actually five cases of chickenpox – which causes fever and rashes – in three different BPS schools, officials acknowledged later. There was one additional case of chickenpox discovered at the Melnea Cass Recreation Center migrant overflow shelter, which just opened in January.
The delays and downplaying of the outbreak by the DPH and media seem more to do with politics than public health.
The Healey administration follows a similar playbook when confronted with a potentially negative situation with migrants, withholding information rather than informing the public – treating anything to do with migrants like a state secret. Communities are given only a few day’s notice, if any, when a new migrant shelter opens.
In the case of chickenpox, which the Centers for Disease Control warns is highly contagious, the state and city of Boston schools department notified only parents of children in classrooms where the outbreak occurred – not in the school community at large. Most parents were left in the dark.
“As per standard protocol, BPS alerts affected classrooms to alert parents to watch for symptoms, stay vigilant, while also providing resources to parents,” the BPS official said.
Chickenpox has been largely eradicated in the U.S. because of vaccines, but the influx of thousands of unvaccinated migrants into the state and country has suddenly put varicella and other infectious diseases like measles into the CDC’s radar.
Seven measles cases were recently reported at a migrant shelter in Chicago, prompting health officials and the CDC to warn the public and start mass vaccinations.
Chicago also dealt with a surge in chickenpox cases late last year at a migrant shelter, prompting the CDC to get involved.
But there was no such warning given in Massachusetts and Boston about the six chickenpox cases found in the Melnea Cass Recreation Center in Roxbury – at least until the media found out about it.
It’s unclear whether the CDC was even officially informed about the outbreak by state and city officials.
