By Clare MurphyHealth reporter, BBC News
It is peak season for chickenpox – the highly-contagious, blistering virus which for most children is unpleasant and for a very few lethal. A safe and effective vaccine is available – why don’t we use it

The varicella vaccine is available privately, but the UK’s immunisation body decided last year against universal vaccination of children – as carried out in many developed countries – citing cost and the fear it could increase shingles, a reactivation of the virus, in older people.
Yet while a vaccine against …

Doctors’ leaders have called for a halt in the development of a medical records database for patients in England.
The British Medical Association says the computer-based Summary Care Records are being set up at "break-neck speed", sometimes without patients’ knowledge.
Ministers have expressed surprise at fears of fast change after previous criticism that it was moving slowly.
The NHS IT upgrade will link more than 30,000 GPs to nearly 300 hospitals through an online appointments system.
It will also feature a centralised medical records system for 50 million patients, e-prescriptions and …

Police have been asked to investigate whether a damning report into a hospital trust could be a base for a criminal prosecution.
Last year, it was revealed there were more than 400 deaths than would be expected at Stafford Hospital between 2005 to 2008.
An independent inquiry report, published last month, also revealed details of patients being neglected.
Stafford MP David Kidney said he had written to police over the matter.
He said members of Cure the NHS, a group of people whose relatives died at the hospital, picketed his surgery …

VIEWPOINTProfessor Tony LeedsSpecialist in obesity management, Central Middlesex Hospital
A big increase in obesity threatens to cause health problems for millions of people across the world.

In this week’s Scrubbing Up, obesity expert Professor Tony Leeds warns that our weight problems could also put the lives of other people at risk.

" Britain is gripped by a much-publicised epidemic of obesity – one in four of us is clinically obese.
Many obese people face an increased risk of illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer. On average, their lives will be shortened by …

By Nick TriggleHealth reporter, BBC News

Hopes of reaching a cross-party deal on funding social care appear to be dead in the water.
The three main parties are due to take part in talks hosted by the merged Age Concern and Help the Aged charity.
But despite pleas from council chiefs for unity, fresh rows about policy differences have erupted.
The Tories, who have dubbed one of the government’s proposals a death tax, also ruled out relaxing their position so a compromise deal can be reached.
The latest talks were organised on …

There is no evidence acupuncture or Chinese herbal medicine increase the chance of getting pregnant through IVF, fertility experts say in new guidance.
The methods are increasingly offered as a way of boosting the chances of a baby, but the British Fertility Society suggests couples may be wasting money.
They analysed 14 trials involving 2,670 people before issuing the new guidance.
But a leading practitioner said that better designed trials would show that the methods could help some couples.
All the trials involved acupuncture, in which needles were inserted into different …

Children with behavioural problems are twice as likely to suffer chronic pain as adults than others, say researchers.
Scientists at Aberdeen University, who followed the lives of more than 19,000 children, think faulty hormone signals in the brain may play a key role.
Bad early life experiences may harm this brain system, causing both behavioural problems in childhood and chronic widespread pain in adulthood.
The findings, spanning 45 years, are published in the journal Rheumatology.
All of the children in the study were born in 1958, and mostly in the UK.

"It …

The UK has donated £1m ($1.5m) to South Africa to buy condoms in a bid to combat HIV and Aids, as the nation builds up to the football World Cup.
UK ministers said South Africa had appealed for one billion condoms.
Last month, South African officials said they were beefing up their condom supply to cope with about 450,000 visitors expected for the World Cup.
More than five million people in South Africa have HIV – more than in any other country.
Last month, South African medical official Victor Ramathesele told …

A woman has been refused the contraceptive pill because it was against the religious beliefs of a pharmacist.
The female employee at Lloyds pharmacy on Duke Street in Sheffield told Janine Deeley she could not give her the prescription on religious grounds.
Ms Deeley, 38, of Wybourn, was told she could pick up the pill the next day, when another staff member was on duty.
A Lloyds pharmacy spokeswoman said an investigation had begun.
She said: "Lloyds pharmacy is very sorry that Ms Deeley was refused supply of her prescribed contraceptive …

Former professional footballer John Hartson, who played for Arsenal, Celtic and Wales, has returned to his old school to raise awareness about cancer, which he has overcome after a year-long battle.

"It was nice to go back. I haven’t been there for 20 years. The schoolyard and the classrooms seemed so small"
John Hartson

Hartson’s life came full circle last week when he returned to his old school after a 13-year playing career and the last eight months battling cancer.
Swansea-born Hartson was welcomed back to Ysgol Gyfun Gwyr in Gowerton, where …