Chicken pox vaccine

[Della]

As a toddler, my daughter nearly died of chicken pox. She spent 3 weeks in hospital including 4 days in an adult intensive care unit and only came home so soon because it was Christmas eve. All because some irresponsible idiot of a mother brought her kid to mother and toddler group with chicken pox because she had decided that 'its better if they get it before they start school'.

I later had my kids vaccinated abroad. It seems the government are now considering introducing the vaccine in the UK but the biggest barrier seems to be parents reluctance to have kids vaccinated following the MMR scare. Surely it should at least be made available to those parents who want to have their kids vaccinated?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8557236.stm

[Chester]

Medical opinion is divided as to the holistic benefits of vaccination versus letting people get it. You have experienced an extreme reaction (who would have guessed it?) but all medical practitioners are agreed that the prevalence of Chicken Pox in society is highly complex and early vacination can lead to greater problems later on.

Add to that the adverse reactions to vacination which is always inevitable and the fact that the reaction to the vacination if there is one is actually a greater risk than the disease and actually more common.

Like any subject related to health the argument is not just financial but what is best for the wider population. We can all tell stories close to home but those in authority have to make wider decisions.