Quote:
Originally Posted by mfp509
We are talking about if shingles itself is contagious from another person. Any person who has had chicken pox can develop shingles - it comes from within our own body. From what I have read, the chicken pox virus lies dormant in the body once you have had chicken pox and will come out in the form of shingles in adults and could be the result of being rundown, low resistance, extreme stress etc. For example, my brother -in-law had chicken pox as a child and developed shingles in his adult life. Now if my sister had direct skin contact with his rash, she could have developed chicken pox (not shingles) if she didn't already have chicken pox or the chicken pox vaccine. She was in no danger of getting chicken pox because she had already had it. And shingles itself is not contagious. I know it sounds confusing, but chicken pox is what it transmitted to another person from direct contact with the shingles rash. My sister did verify this with their doctor after I told her what I had found out.
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by marybb
I to had chicken pox as a child and developed shingles as an adult.
|
Hi Marybb,
That makes sense because the only way you can get shingles as an adult is if you had chickenpox as a kid.
However, what mfp509 said is correct.
- A person cannot get shingles from another person with shingles.
- A person who has never had chickenpox can get chickenpox from exposure to a person with shingles.
When the shingles vacine first came out, it was not recommended for people who had already had shingles because it was not yet known whether it would be effective. Does anyone know if that's still the case?
Apparently, I'm not old enough to get the vacine, but would get it in a heartbeat when I qualify if it works for people who've had shingles in the past.