My grandson is just 2 weeks short of being one. He was with me all day on Thursday and I broke out Sunday in what we think may be shingles. He hasn’t touched my face, where the rash is. Can he catch the chicken pox?
My grandson is just 2 weeks short of being one. He was with me all day on Thursday and I broke out Sunday in what we think may be shingles. He hasn’t touched my face, where the rash is. Can he catch the chicken pox?
READ ANSWERS, or add one!
He can get it if he hasn’t received the chicken pox vaccine. But honestly, YOU are more likely to catch something from someone who has it than he is, coz if you have shingles, your immune system is out of whack.
Yes
A person with a shingles rash can pass the virus to someone, usually a child, who has never had chickenpox, but the child will develop chickenpox, not shingles. A person with chickenpox cannot communicate shingles to someone else. Shingles comes from the virus hiding inside the person’s body, not from an outside source.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/shingles/shingles.htm
YES
Chicken pox is a highly contagious illness that should become much less a part of childhood as more children are given the Varivax or chicken pox vaccine. Chicken pox is caused by the varicella zoster virus and occurs most commonly in late winter or early spring. Unvaccinated children usually develop symptoms about ten to twenty-one days after being exposed to someone with chicken pox (incubation period).
http://www.healthcaresouth.com/pages/askthedoctor/chickenpox.htm
No. Save your sleepover for when the kids are well. It’s true that for most of us, chicken pox was just an itchy rite of passage. But it isn’t always harmless. And now that there is an effective vaccine, there is little reason for your children to ever get chicken pox in the first place.
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/44/1739_50887.htm
Yes, it is the same virus, I don’t know if it would only be if he touched the rash or if it is airborne. I only know it’s the same virus so be careful. I don’t know what age kids get the shots against Chicken Pox, so maybe he’s already had it and will be ok.
But I agree with Mango. People go into shingles if the immune system is weakened for some reason and they had Chicken Pox before, and the virus is dormant. It usually hits older people, sometimes they have an underlying condition, sometimes it’s just like you get the flu if your immune system is not at it’s best. Be careful who you are around for your sake. If you caught something else on top of the shingles you could be very, very sick. It happened to my Grandma. She got pneumonia on top of Shingles. I’m not trying to scare you, but just watch your health.
Your grandson will probably be OK and even if he caught Chicken Pox, they are usually mild at that age, a little fever and a lot of itching if he is generally healthy.