Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the breadth of the uptake of the chicken pox vaccine to reduce the risk of stroke in children and young adults; and if he will make a statement.
Public Health England has not made an assessment of the impact of uptake of varicella vaccination on the risk of stroke in children and young adults.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which provides the Government with expert advice on immunisation matters, has not recommended a universal varicella (chickenpox) immunisation programme for children or young adults.
Varicella immunisation is recommended to protect those people who are at most risk of serious illness. This is done by immunising specific individuals who are in regular or close contact with those at risk, including non-immune healthcare workers and close household contacts of immunocompromised individuals, such as siblings of a child with leukaemia or a child whose parent is undergoing chemotherapy.