Report proposes mass chickenpox jab

A vaccine for varicella - the medical name for the illness - is available and could be added to the existing measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab by using the recently licensed MMRV vaccination, the report says.

But the authors, who include Adam Finn, professor of paediatrics at Bristol University, say controversy about the MMR jab would make it difficult to introduce MMRV at present.

Instead they suggest offering the varicella vaccine to teenagers who have not yet had chickenpox.

Routine immunisation for chicken pox is currently only offered in the UK to healthcare workers and others who are at risk of contracting the illness or passing it on.

But the US, Canada, Australia and Finland have already introduced vaccination programmes for children.

Professor Finn said: "Chickenpox has traditionally been viewed as an irritating but inevitable infection to be endured during childhood, a rite of passage during the preschool years.

"This benign view persists despite evidence that certain groups, including neonates, adults, pregnant women, and the immunocompromised have higher risks of severe disease."

The report, Severe Complications of Chickenpox in Hospitalised Children in the UK and Ireland, has been written by researchers from Bristol University, the University of London, Health Protection Scotland and the University of Sydney.

The authors said chickenpox rates are rising in pre-school children and for every 1,000 cases, between two and five children will be hospitalised.