Chickenpox at 2 left my son brain damaged

Mum backs boost to MMR jabs

- BY JACKIE ANNETT

WHEN Judy Brooks' son Joshua came down with chickenpox aged two, she thought he would soon recover, just like his brother and sister did.

But he ended up being rushed to hospital and put on life support, with doctors warning he might not survive.

While chickenpox is often seen as a mild and common childhood illness, it can lead to severe complications, hospitalisation and even death.

Health chiefs have now decided to add the vaccine for the varicella-zoster virus to the existing combined measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) jab from January.