MEDICAL staff in the town are supporting a new report that says children should be routinely vaccinated against chickenpox to prevent deaths and severe complications.

A vaccine for varicella - the medical name for the illness - is available and could be added to the existing measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab by using the recently licensed MMRV vaccination, the report says.

Great Western Hospital nurse Helen Forest says the jab is a good idea.

Mrs Forrest, a senior specialist nurse for infection prevention and control, said: "Any inoculation that can prevent death and serious illness amongst children should be welcomed."

But the authors of the report, who include Adam Finn, professor of paediatrics at Bristol University, say controversy about the MMR jab would make it difficult to introduce MMRV at present.

Routine immunisation for chickenpox is currently only offered in the UK to healthcare workers and others who are at risk of contracting the illness or passing it on.

But the US, Canada, Australia and Finland have already introduced vaccination programmes for children.

Professor Finn said: "Chickenpox has traditionally been viewed as an irritating but inevitable infection to be endured during childhood.

"This benign view persists despite evidence that certain groups, including neonates, adults, pregnant women, and the immunocompromised have higher risks of severe disease."

The report, Severe Complications of Chickenpox in Hospitalised Children in the UK and Ireland, says chickenpox rates are rising in pre-school children and for every 1,000 cases, two to five children will be hospitalised.

Dr Peter Crouch from Taw Hill Medical Practice says he would urge parents to follow the advice given by the Joint Committee on vaccination and immunisation.

He said: "I would almost certainly follow the advice of the Joint Committee on vaccination and immunisation.

"It is an independent internationally recognised expert advisory committee and a longstanding leading body in the field of immunisation."