I don't normally have a problem getting rid of paper texture but this has me stumped. The original was scanned at 1200dpi 48 bit RGB on an Epson 3170. Any help would be much appreciated.

As a starting point, try the Fournier Transform Filter. You can download from the Alex Chirokov website. On your image, most of the stars to remove seem to be centred close to the centre star that you don't want to touch.

Cheers
Dave