Over 100 children have contracted chickenpox within last two weeks in Palpa district.

The airborne disease caused by Varicella zoster virus has mostly affected the children in Tansen Municipality and the villages of Kachal and Birkot.

Dhan Bahadur Kamcha, the headmaster of Yubabarsha Secondary School in Kachal, said a majority of the children between grade one and eight were diagnosed with chickenpox when they were taken to a local health facility after they started developing itchy rashes on their bodies while taking their exams.

Umashanker Prasad Chaudhary, the chief of the District Health Office, said they have mobilised health workers to the affected areas.