--- description: Jerome Kunkel, who sued his high school when he could not play basketball because he is unvaccinated, has come down with the chickenpox title: Teen Who Sued School Over Vaccination Gets Chickenpox image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd74147491db2129c/698949afdb298771ae2624b7/kentucky-teenager-chicken-pox.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Kentucky](/tag/kentucky/) ## Kentucky Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Teenager Sued His School for Banning Unvaccinated Students. Now He Has Chickenpox by [Amy Gunia](/author/amy-gunia/) ## Amy Gunia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong. May 9, 2019 4:00 AM CUT  A syringe with a sticker for a vaccine against chicken pox in a doctor's surgery in Berlin on March 4, 2015. A syringe with a sticker for a vaccine against chicken pox in a doctor's surgery in Berlin on March 4, 2015.Lukas Schulze—dpa/AP Images by [Amy Gunia](/author/amy-gunia/) ## Amy Gunia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong. May 9, 2019 4:00 AM CUT A Kentucky teenager who sued his school last month for banning unvaccinated students has come down with a case of [chickenpox](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48205523 "undefined"). Jerome Kunkel, 18, took legal action against his high school after the Northern Kentucky Health Department said unvaccinated students had to stay at home amid an outbreak that left more than 32 students sick, according to the BBC. Kunkel, who is unvaccinated, was barred from playing basketball as part of the ban. In April, a judge ruled against the teen, whose lawsuit argued that the vaccine is “immoral, illegal and sinful.” The teen’s father said that he opposed vaccinations because some are derived from cells from aborted fetuses, according to the BBC. The Catholic Church [issued a statement](http://www.academyforlife.va/content/pav/en/the-academy/activity-academy/note-vaccini.html "undefined") in 2017 saying that it is morally justifiable to use vaccines. Some vaccines are derived from two fetuses aborted in the 1960s. The teen’s lawyer, Christopher Weist, said Kunkel started developing chickenpox symptoms last week, but he does not regret declining to be vaccinated, according to the BBC. **Read More:** [_Italian Politician Who Opposed Mandatory Vaccinations Contracts Chickenpox_](http://time.com/5554843/massimiliano-fedriga-chickenpox-vaccine/ "undefined") “These are deeply held religious beliefs, they’re sincerely held beliefs,” Wiest said, according to the BBC. “From their perspective, they always recognized they were running the risk of getting it, and they were OK with it.” About [350,000 Americans](https://www.cdc.gov/chickenpox/vaccine-infographic.html "undefined") get chickenpox — which causes fever and itchy rashes — every year. The illness was very common in the U.S. until the FDA first approved a [vaccine](http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,3341,00.html "undefined") for the highly-contagious disease in 1995\. The Center for Disease Control estimates that each year vaccinations [prevent 3.5 million cases](https://www.cdc.gov/chickenpox/about/index.html "undefined") and 100 deaths in the U.S. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5586312/kentucky-teen-chickenpox-vaccination/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5586312/kentucky-teen-chickenpox-vaccination/"},"headline":"A Teenager Sued His School for Banning Unvaccinated Students. Now He Has Chickenpox","datePublished":"2019-05-09T04:00:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T23:29:13.648Z","description":"The teen, who opposes vaccinations on religious grounds, lost his lawsuit","url":"https://time.com/5586312/kentucky-teen-chickenpox-vaccination/","keywords":["Kentucky","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd74147491db2129c/698949afdb298771ae2624b7/kentucky-teenager-chicken-pox.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Amy Gunia","jobTitle":"Gunia was a reporter for TIME based in Hong Kong.","url":"https://time.com/author/amy-gunia/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd74147491db2129c/698949afdb298771ae2624b7/kentucky-teenager-chicken-pox.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"kentucky-teenager-chicken-pox","caption":"Kentucky CChicken Pox","creditText":"Lukas Schulze—dpa/AP Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/kentucky/","name":"Kentucky"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5586312/kentucky-teen-chickenpox-vaccination/","name":"A Teenager Sued His School for Banning Unvaccinated Students. Now He Has Chickenpox"}}]}] ```