If I were a betting man, and one could bet on such matters, I would stake the price of a new stethoscope that chicken pox will soon be a subject of media and thus public (and thus political) interest, at least in the UK. The vaccine—developed twenty five years ago—has been in general use in the USA for around five years and it cannot be long before it begins to be used more widely in Europe too. The most likely formulation to find general acceptance in national programmes will be a combination with the existing MMR vaccine and, …