Why don't we vaccinate against Chicken Pox?

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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 Pinky says, 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 Meningitis are more important and it may be a very long time before this happens. See below for the full article.


BBC News: Why don't we vaccinate against Chicken Pox?

--Mad Margaret (talk) Mad Margaret 09:17, 14 June 2013 (UTC)