Source: BBC News >> Read full article and comment
Health reporter, BBC News
It is peak season for chickenpox – the highly-contagious, blistering virus which for most children is unpleasant and for a very few lethal. A safe and effective vaccine is available – why don’t we use it?
The varicella vaccine is available privately, but the UK’s immunisation body decided last year against universal vaccination of children – as carried out in many developed countries – citing cost and the fear it could increase shingles, a reactivation of the virus, in older people.
Yet while a vaccine against shingles for the elderly may now be in the offing, removing at least one of the potential hurdles, all debates about childhood vaccines still take place under the shadow of the upset over the measles, mumps and rubella jab (MMR), sparked by a now discredited research paper over a decade ago.
Despite international confirmation of its safety, a small number of parents still refuse to give their child the jab – and many in the medical community believe this explains the reluctance of the authorities to introduce a brand new injection into the childhood immunisation schedule….Continue reading
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