CHILDHOOD CHICKENPOX vaccinations could be encouraging the spread of shingles, scientists said yesterday. Shingles, a painful rash that afflicts older people, and can cause fatal complications, marks the re-emergence of the dormant chickenpox virus in later life, when immunity falls. It strikes a quarter of people who have had chickenpox. The Public Health Laboratory Service in London has shown that adults living with children were less likely to develop shingles. But if all children were vaccinated against chickenpox, adults with a history of the disease would not be exposed to enough of the virus to prevent full-blown shingles later.