Yes, because while shingles is contagious, you won’t get shingles if you are exposed to someone with shingles, but you can get chicken pox. Although shingles can occur anywhere on your body, it most often appears as a single stripe of blisters that wraps around either the left or the right side of your torso.Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus — the same virus that causes chickenpox. St. Joseph Communications uses cookies for personalization, to customize its online advertisements, and for other purposes. (In other words, exposure to the virus from shingles leads to chicken pox, not directly to shingles.) Q. After shingles and a year of postherpetic neuralgia, a painful condition that made it difficult to sleep, DiCarlo, an infectious disease specialist at Louisiana State University in New Orleans, counts himself among the supporters of the shingles vaccine. yes. A: No, but you can get chickenpox. You cannot get shingles from someone with shingles or chickenpox. “One of the common questions that comes up is, what about a mom who is breastfeeding and she has shingles? CORONAVIRUS: UPDATED VISITOR RESTRICTIONS, INCREASED SAFETY MEASURES + COVID-19 TESTING. Sometimes this happens because the body is under stress but other times it happens for no apparent reason.Â, The risk of shingles increases with age—in Canada, more than two-thirds of all cases are in people over the age of 50, according to Health Canada. If you have never had chicken pox you can catch shingles from someone who has them. At some point, it can then reactivate, becoming You’ve probably heard about shingles—maybe you’ve even experienced the painful rash yourself—but what exactly is the relationship between shingles and chicken pox, and can kids get it? She says these kind of red, rashy lesions, which look similar to chicken pox, are found in a strip or patch on only one side of the body—the left side of the torso, for example, rather than all over the torso. The shot you're talking about is an immunization against a virus called the varicella-zoster virus. Can she breastfeed? “The little spots themselves aren’t that painful,” says O’Leary, explaining that for adults, who can often experience intense pain from shingles, the pain comes from the virus affecting nerves in the body, not from the actual sores on the skin. Cleveland Clinic © 1995-2020. If a woman has had the chicken pox (or the chicken pox vaccine) any time in her life, she passes along some immunity to the chicken pox to her baby while she’s pregnant, and this partial immunity lasts until the baby is six to 12 months of age, says O’Leary. The shingles sores are contagious until they are scabbed over. My 17year old ,though never had chicken pox,he had the required vaccinations for the chicken pox when he was younger.It took two The pain and the rash start up again, this time as shingles. “If there are shingles actually on the breast, the recommendation is that if it can be covered, then it’s OK to breastfeed. Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. And the answer is, is in most cases, yes,” says O’Leary. Shingles and chickenpox are caused by the same virus, called the varicella-zoster virus. Unfortunately, yes. Wrong. (However, the immunity isn’t necessarily complete and it is possible for an unvaccinated infant to get the chicken pox.) Shingles is a dormant cell which you only get from chicken pox and who knows why it becomes active (speculation that it could become active due to high stress or weakened immune system). The shingles vaccine Zostavax was licensed in the U.S. in 2006. Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. You don’t develop shingles without first having the chicken pox virus in your body, so it’s unlikely that a baby would get shingles. Shingles: No you can get shingles when you have dormant chicken pox virus in your body. (However, to really be on the safe side an older adult with shingles may want to take time off from looking after an infant. But you can get chickenpox from someone with shingles if you have not had chickenpox before. If you are over the age of 50, and have had chickenpox, consider the Zostavax vaccine and call the professionals at Northeast Dermatology Associates. According to the CDC, "The virus that causes shingles, varicella zoster virus (VZV) can spread from a person with active shingles and cause chickenpox in someone who had never had chickenpox or received chickenpox vaccine." Can you get shingles without having had chicken pox - Answered by a verified Health Professional We use cookies to give you the best possible experience on our website. Do Face Mask Brackets Work — And Are They Safe. So no, getting the chicken pox vaccine will not prevent you from later getting shingles. If a mom does have shingles, anywhere else [on the body], she just keeps it covered [and washes her hands well before nursing].”, Shingles is contagious, but not nearly as contagious as chicken pox. The primary reaction by VZV is chickenpox (varicella) and any The risk of shingles increases with age—in Canada, more than two-thirds of all cases are in people over the age of 50, according to Health Canada. Bottom line: kids get all kinds of rashes. 4 Things That Might Be Affecting Your Daughter’s Body Image. Any form of stress can reactivate them. You have successfully subscribed to our newsletter. Most cases can be “Children who get the vaccine are less likely to get shingles than children who have regular chicken pox,” saysSean O’Leary, a paediatrician and paediatric infectious disease specialist in Denver. All Rights Reserved. Depending on the situation, your doctor may also prescribe anti-viral medication, she says, adding that if your kiddo is scratching the sores and gets a bacterial infection on top of the viral infection, they may need antibiotics. There may also be a fever, headache or chills.Â, Fortunately, shingles pain tends to be milder for kids than it is in adults. About 30 percent of people who have had chicken pox go on to have shingles sometime in their life, usually after the age of 60, but it can happen at any age. You may not get chickenpox twice, but VZV could make you sick twice. Should You Cancel Your Holiday Gatherings This Year Because of COVID? WITH THAT It could be that your niece got the chicken pox and it quickly turned into shingles there for noone realizing she got the chicken pox (it is possible and does happen but mainly in adults … My She cautions that shingles near the eyes can be very serious, potentially permanently damaging the eye, so that situation needs to be monitored closely by a doctor.Â, O’Leary says that a non-steroid, over-the-counter product like calamine lotion can help soothe the skin if the sores are itchy. “We recommend covering the sores with a dry, clean bandage.” Avoid contact with someone who has never had the chicken pox, especially babies and young children, pregnant women and the elderly.Â, Shingles vaccines are available and in Canada are recommended for adults age 50 and up, but they are not recommended for children.Â. It’s possible for a child who has had the chicken pox vaccine to come down with shingles later in life, because they were exposed to the virus in much-weakened form in the vaccine. you can get shingles without ever having chicken pox. If you come in contact with someone with shingles, you can get the chicken pox. Shingles is a viral infection, caused by the varicella-zoster virus, which is the same virus responsible for chicken pox. Policy. Data from the Shingles Prevention Trial, which enrolled 38,000 adults aged 60 and over, showed that men and women who got the shingles vaccine were half as likely to get the ailment after an averag… So if you never had chickenpox and someone you know has shingles, if their rash has turned to blisters and you touch the blisters, you could contract the virus and get chickenpox.  If your child gets the chicken pox before the age of one, or you had the chicken pox very late in your pregnancy, your child has a slightly higher risk of shingles, generally later in life as opposed to childhood. If you’ve been vaccinated for chickenpox, you’re also protected from shingles as an adult. No, you cannot get shingles without carrying the Herpes varicella virus. Send thanks to the doctor Dr. Robert Killian answered By Bonnie Schiedel A: No, but you can get chickenpox. However, for kids the sores may be itchy, he says. If you have shingles without a rash, your symptoms should clear up in a similar amount of time. It can be reactivated later and cause shingles if someone's immune system is lowered. But if it’s near the nipple, where the baby would be nursing, then it’s recommended that they pump from that breast and discard the milk, until the lesions are crusted over. Policy. I was just diagnosed with shingles and I have never had chicken pox. Chickenpox and shingles are caused by the same virus. “Chicken pox is very, very contagious because it spreads through coughing and spreads through the air very easily,” says O’Leary. Children with an immune deficiency (for example, leukaemia) or who are receiving chemotherapy should avoid anyone with chickenpox or shingles as the infection can be especially severe. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. May 5, 2020. “Shingles show up as painful blistery lesions, and they then fill with fluid, and then they scab over,” says Michelle Ponti, a paediatrician in London, Ontario. Shingles is contagious, but not nearly as contagious as chicken pox. “Shingles, on the other hand, is spread almost exclusively by direct contact with the sores themselves.” If you have skin contact with the fluid in a shingles sore, you’ve been exposed to the varicella-zoster virus, and could come down with the chicken pox. We call that latency. It’s unlikely that your child’s rash will turn out to be shingles, but if a rash shows up on just one half of the body, it’s worth getting checked out. Then, at some point when you get older, about 50 or even more so at 60, the virus decides to wake up and go for a walk. A person who has shingles can infect others with chicken pox, but only if those persons (usually children) never had chicken pox before. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. A person can develop shingles if they have ever had chicken pox. Find out how people get shingles, whether it is contagious, and how to prevent it. So to simplify, if you never had chickenpox Yes, people with shingles are contagious. The shingles vaccine is a different vaccine that is given to seniors to help prevent them from getting shingles. So while a case of shingles is possible, it’s not common in kids with healthy immune systems.Â. I don’t believe that you can get shingles after having had the chickenpox vaccine. You can get chickenpox from someone who has shingles if you have never had chickenpox or never received the chickenpox vaccine. After you've had chickenpox, the virus lies inactive in nerve tissue near your spinal cord and brain. Fitness, health and wellness tips sent to you weekly. Typically, when you’re a child and you get chickenpox, your body fights off the virus, but it doesn’t get rid of it. For one thing, the vaccine works well but is not 100 percent effective, and occasionally a vaccinated kid can come down with the chicken pox, although it is usually a milder case. “The in utero exposure is essentially the infant’s case of chicken pox,” says O’Leary, meaning that child could get shingles at some point, but wouldn’t need to have an active case of chicken pox first. Â. It’s more common for kids with immune systems that aren’t working well—for example a child who is going through chemotherapy or a child with rheumatoid arthritis taking medications that suppress the immune system—to develop shingles, says O’Leary. So while a case of shingles is possible, it’s not common in kids with. Can You Still Get Shingles After virus, and could come down with the chicken pox. Here’s what you need to know about shingles in children. )Â, Before the shingles sores emerge, there can be a burning, itching, tingling sensation in the skin, with the rash appearing up to five days later. If you get chicken… You can get the shingles without ever having had the chicken pox. If you’ve never had chickenpox, you won’t get shingles from someone who has it —, but you could get chickenpox.  If your child gets the chicken pox before t. You don’t develop shingles without first having the chicken pox virus in your body, so it’s unlikely that a baby would get shingles. You don’t develop shingles without first having the chicken pox virus in your body, so it’s unlikely that a baby would get shingles. If a woman has had the chicken pox (or the chicken pox vaccine) any time in her life, she passes along some immunity to the chicken pox to her baby while she’s pregnant, and t, munity lasts until the baby is six to 12 months of age, says O’Leary. Shingles with a rash usually clears up within two to six weeks. Remember, shingles is a reactivation of the varicella zoster virus (VZV), which also causes chicken pox. I can say this with certainty because shingles cannot occur without the varicella-zoster (also known has the herpes zoster) virus which can only be present after having had chickenpox. However, the varicella zoster virus can be spread from a person with … When people get chickenpox, the virus remains in the body. You can't pass shingles directly to another person, but you can transmit the virus that causes shingles, which is the same virus behind chickenpox. Years later, the virus m… Remember, you can’t get shingles without first having chickenpox or the vaccine? The virus goes into hiding somewhere at the base of a nerve in your body for years and years and just stays there quietly. you can also get shingles after having chicken pox. Kids who have had the chicken pox vaccine are less likely in general to get shingles at any point in their lives. I never had chicken pox, not directly to shingles. in your body but! 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