The UK has added chickenpox to the routine childhood vaccination schedule for the first time, using a combined MMRV jab that also protects against measles, mumps and rubella. Here’s what parents need to know.

The first thing to say is that the MMRV vaccine is not actually new. It’s been safely used in other countries (including the US, Australia and Germany) for decades, and has been available privately in the UK for some years. This year, MMRV is being introduced into the UK childhood vaccination schedule and will be available free of charge through the NHS.

The MMRV vaccine protects against four different viruses. For decades in the UK, the MMR vaccines have been used to safely protect children against a trio of particularly horrible infections: measles, mumps and rubella. The MMRV vaccine has one extra component, which protects children against the varicella zoster virus (VZV).

VZV might sound unfamiliar, but it causes some very familiar diseases. If you have ever had chickenpox, that was the point at which you caught VZV. Chickenpox........

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