Chickenpox (Varicella) (Reportable by telephone, facsimile, or electronically within 24 hours)

Section 690 Section 690.350  Chickenpox (Varicella) (Reportable by telephone, facsimile, or electronically within 24 hours) a)         Control of Case 1)         Children shall be excluded from school or child care facilities for a minimum of five days after the appearance of eruption (with day zero being the first day of rash appearance) or until vesicles become dry, whichever is longer. 2)         Adults shall be excluded from school and the workplace for a minimum of five days after the appearance of eruption (with day zero being the first day of rash appearance) or until vesicles become dry/crusted, whichever is longer. b)         Control of Contacts Susceptible contacts in a health care setting shall be quarantined, as necessary, until the incubation period has elapsed to prevent exposure of immuno-compromised patients. Local health authorities, in consultation with the Department, may require additional exclusions if there is reason to believe these recommendations will prevent further spread of the disease. (See Section 2310-15 of the Department of Public Health Powers and Duties Law) c)         Health Care Facility Guidance 1)         All exposed susceptible patients shall be discharged as soon as feasible.  All exposed susceptible patients who cannot be discharged shall be placed in airborne infection isolation and contact precautions from days 8 to 21 following exposure to the index case. For patients who receive varicella-specific immune globulin, airborne infection isolation and contact precautions shall be followed until day 28. 2) All exposed susceptible health care workers shall be restricted from patient contact from days 8 to 21 following exposure to an index case; this restriction shall be extended to 28 days for persons receiving varicella-specific immune globulin. d)         Laboratory Reporting Laboratories shall report to the local health authority all patients who have a positive result on any laboratory test indicative of and specific for detecting varicella infection.