An outbreak of mumps and chicken pox is currently making the news in many areas of the Dominican Republic. The epidemic proportions of those infected by these childhood diseases have caused classroom attendance to drop drastically in many places. The illnesses, transmitted by airborne virus, commonly affect several members of one family. The director of the government?s Program of Immunization, Dr. Zacarias Garib, told Listin Diario reporter Doris Pantaleon that vaccination programs in this country and throughout much of Latin America do not include inoculations for chicken pox and the mumps because of the cost involved. There is a plan, however, to introduce the mumps vaccine this July. Mumps is considered to be a fairly benign illness in children, and not viewed to be as serious as diphtheria, tetanus, and measles, which are included in the vaccination program.