Teen who sued school over ban for refusing vaccination now has chickenpox

Jerome Kunkel, 18, sued after his school banned him for being unvaccinated. Photo / Bill Kunkel

A US teen who was suing his school after they banned him for refusing the chickenpox vaccination has now caught chickenpox.

Jerome Kunkel, 18, made headlines last month after he unsuccessfully sued his Kentucky school for barring unvaccinated students amid a chickenpox outbreak.

But one month on, Kunkel now has chickenpox.

Originally, the Catholic student refused to vaccinate on religious grounds.

He argued in court the vaccine is "immoral, illegal and sinful" and that his rights had been violated.

The school made the rule to ban unvaccinated children after an outbreak left at least 32 pupils sick.

Despite picking up chickenpox, the teen's lawyer says Kunkel and his family don't regret the move.

"These are deeply held religious beliefs, they're sincerely held beliefs," family attorney Christopher Wiest said. "From their perspective, they always recognised they were running the risk of getting it, and they were OK with it."

Jerome Kunkel, 18, sued after his school banned him for being unvaccinated. Photo / Bill Kunkel

Now that Kunkel has had the chickenpox, and is thus immune to it, he hopes to be back in class soon for the first time since March 15.

The Northern Kentucky Health Department excluded unvaccinated students from classes and extracurricular activities from March 14.

About 90 per cent of students at the Catholic school have religious exemptions from vaccinations, according to local media.

It is understood 24 other students were banned during the chickenpox outbreak.

"I flat-out told the mums and dads the quickest path to resolving this is having them contract chickenpox," Kunkel's lawyer explained.

Most children recover from chickenpox after a few days, but the disease can lead to serious complications, especially in infants, adults, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems.