The Disease
In America, Canada, Germany and Australia all children are vaccinated from 1 years old against this childhood disease through their government vaccination programme. Some states in the USA ban children from school if they have not been immunised. In the UK the NHS does not offer vaccination. There are around 300,000 cases of chickenpox a year in the UK. A single vaccination is all that is necessary below the age of 12, for older children or adults, 2 vaccinations separated by six weeks are necessary. We vaccinate from 13 months old.
Options are being considered by NHS to combine the Chickenpox jab with the MMR combined triple vaccine, creating a four-in-one shot. US federally funded study found that children who were given Merck's combination vaccine ProQuad (MMR & Chickenpox) suffered from convulsions twice as frequently as children who were given separate vaccines.
Pregnancy and Vaccination
No adult who is pregnant should have a Chickenpox vaccine
However, it is worth considering Chickenpox vaccination if you are contemplating pregnancy in the future as exposure to Chickenpox in pregnancy for a non-immune mother can cause significant abnormalities in a developing baby.