Varicella

FILE - A chickenpox (also known as varicella) vaccine sits next to syringes and ready for a student at a free immunization clinic at a Seattle public school on Dec. 30, 2019, in Seattle.

The JCVI recommended the chickenpox vaccine is given as part of combined MMRV (measles, mumps, rubella and varicella) vaccine.

The varicella and measles vaccines are only two examples of very important required vaccinations.

Vicky Chadwick, from Burgess Hill, is recovering from Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a rare condition caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox and shingles.

Similarly with chickenpox, also known as varicella: Antibodies are recommended to prevent the development of symptoms in patients who were exposed to the virus within the previous four days.

For example, varicella zoster virus causes chickenpox in the acute phase ; after recovery from chickenpox, the virus may remain dormant in nerve cells for many years, and later cause herpes zoster (shingles).