http://wbztv.com/bostonmarathon/boston.marathon.kenyans.2.700069.html
Chicken Pox Cancels Annual Boston Marathon Event
BOSTON (WBZ) ― Chicken pox has forced officials to throw in the towel for plans of a Boston Marathon tradition at the Elmwood Elementary School in Hopkinton.
For the past 16 years, Kenyan athletes have visited the school one week before the marathon to run with the kids and answer some of their questions.
Several students have come down with mild cases of the chicken pox, and school officials don't want any of the elite runners to get sick, so they are canceling the event.
The initial plan was to move the event to the high school and the elementary kids would not be able to participate.
However, Tuesday evening officials announced they have decided to cancel the event entirely after school officials met with physicians and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Because chicken pox is an unusual disease in Kenya and people there aren't vaccinated for it, adults who become exposed to it could get very sick. Thus, it was decided to cancel the event as a precaution.
The Adopt-a-Marathoner Program will continue next year, officials said.
Chicken Pox Cancels Annual Boston Marathon Event
A Kenyan runner waves to kids at a rally
for marathoners at the Elmwood Elementary
School in Hopkinton last year.
for marathoners at the Elmwood Elementary
School in Hopkinton last year.
BOSTON (WBZ) ― Chicken pox has forced officials to throw in the towel for plans of a Boston Marathon tradition at the Elmwood Elementary School in Hopkinton.For the past 16 years, Kenyan athletes have visited the school one week before the marathon to run with the kids and answer some of their questions.
Several students have come down with mild cases of the chicken pox, and school officials don't want any of the elite runners to get sick, so they are canceling the event.
The initial plan was to move the event to the high school and the elementary kids would not be able to participate.
However, Tuesday evening officials announced they have decided to cancel the event entirely after school officials met with physicians and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Because chicken pox is an unusual disease in Kenya and people there aren't vaccinated for it, adults who become exposed to it could get very sick. Thus, it was decided to cancel the event as a precaution.
The Adopt-a-Marathoner Program will continue next year, officials said.
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On an unrelated note - read this and if you buy into the myth that vaccines cause or contribute to autism, I hope you'll think again. I wonder if these kids at Elmwood Elementary School in Hopkinton were vaccinated...
1 comment:
I wonder how many kids wish they had been vaccinated so they could have met with the runners? It's good to see that those in charge have a respect for the effects of "childhood diseases."
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