A Kentucky judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by an unvaccinated teenager who sued his local health department for temporarily barring students at his school who were not deemed immune against chickenpox.

Following an outbreak of chickenpox affecting roughly 13% of the student population at Our Lady of Sacred Heart/Assumption Academy in Walton, Kentucky, the Northern Kentucky Health Department announced that all students who did not have "proof of vaccination or proof of immunity against chickenpox will not be allowed to attend school until 21 days after the onset of rash for the last ill student or staff member."

According to news reports, the school's sports and extracurricular activities were canceled to avoid spreading the illness to other schools and places.

Jerome Kunkel, a senior basketball player at the school who refused the chickenpox vaccine for religious reasons, filed a lawsuit against the county. In late February, Kunkel was told he couldn't attend or play any upcoming basketball games because test results indicated he was not immune to chickenpox. Kunkel and his father said he was being discriminated against because of religious beliefs.

"The fact that I can't finish my senior year of basketball, like our last couple games is pretty devastating. I mean you go through four years of high school, playing basketball, but you look forward to your senior year," he told news agencies.

Kunkel had argued that missing weeks of school may have lifelong consequences and alleged that the health department had "acted in retaliation for his exercise of his religious beliefs." The health department responded that it had ordered the temporary ban because of the chickenpox outbreak, not because he wasn't vaccinated.

Boone County Circuit Judge James Schrand rejected Kunkel's request to prevent the health department from enforcing its school and activities ban.

"The Court's ruling ... underscores the critical need for Public Health Departments to preserve the safety of the entire community, and in particular the safety of those members of our community who are most susceptible to the dire consequences when a serious, infectious disease such as varicella, is left unabated and uncontrolled," the county stated.

—Source: CNN.com