Changes

The official line on a possible Nationwide chickenpox vaccination programme (for children) is that this would cause an increase in Shingles in the elderly, with clear financial repercussions. Apparently, the elderly get a booster to their system from infected children, which helps prevent Shingles. However, as you say, various countries have now had the Vaccination Programme under way for some years, without a noticeable increase in Shingles in the Elderly. There is light at the end of the tunnel, in that a Vaccination against Shingles will potentially be available soon and this would clear the way for a chickenpox Vaccination for children. Unfortunately, the current thinking is that vaccinations for new strains of [http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/meningitis/Pages/Introduction.aspx Meningitis] are more important and it may be a very long time before this happens. See below for the full article.