Government scientists are considering a national campaign to vaccinate all babies against chickenpox – almost a decade after they last looked at the possibility.
While many consider the childhood illness a rite of passage – and for most it is relatively harmless – for a few it can lead to serious complications, including sepsis, pneumonia and brain damage.
Every year, around 25 people die from chickenpox in England and Wales, a fifth of them children. The 25 deaths are ‘more than from measles, mumps, pertussis and Hib meningitis combined’, according to a 2001 analysis in the BMJ.
Sarah Westcott, 44, right, had her youngest son Gabriel, now three, centre, immunised after her 14-year-old daughter Bridy, left, suffered badly with chickenpox as a young girl
Ms Westcott, left, said her daughter Bridy, right, 'had inch-wide black blisters all over her body and nearly ended up in hospital. It’s only thanks to my father, who is a GP, that we were able to manage it at home'
aediatrician Dr Andy Raffles, of the Portland Hospital in London, said the damage chickenpox could wreak on a child should not be underestimated. ‘I would warmly welcome the introduction of routine chickenpox vaccination for children,’ he said
Specially commissioned doctors are now weighing up the pros and cons of instituting a vaccination campaign, which would see more than 700,000 babies across the UK inoculated annually.
It is understood a recommendation to Ministers could be made within a year, although the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has made no decision yet.
Last night, paediatrician Dr Andy Raffles, of the Portland Hospital in London, said the damage chickenpox could wreak on a child should not be underestimated. ‘I would warmly welcome the introduction of routine chickenpox vaccination for children,’ he said.
In his 30 years’ experience, he said he had seen
