All Things Chickenpoxian

[Wolf]

Originally Posted by proteanmix

When I finally got in touch with she told me she had been really sick with shingles (who the hell catches shingles anymore??!!)

What year do you think this is? They didn't come up with a vaccine to this virus until very recently, and even with the vaccine it only stops it in about half of those that get it. Almost everyone is a carrier (pretty much anyone over the age of 5-8 years), and many things can cause it to crop back up. However, many of us never see it again after the original infection...we're just carriers and we neither spread it nor do we show any signs of it, our immune systems just keep it in a dormant state.

So, you don't "catch" it again, it just comes back from a long-past case of chickenpox.

Which reminds me that my immune system got a boost in resistance to this virus when I cared for a young lady with chickenpox a few years ago.

[targo]

Originally Posted by Wolf

Which reminds me that my immune system got a boost in resistance to this virus when I cared for a young lady with chickenpox a few years ago.

really? When you care for someone with the chicken pox you strengthen your immune system?

[proteanmix]

Originally Posted by Wolf

What year do you think this is? They didn't come up with a vaccine to this virus until very recently, and even with the vaccine it only stops it in about half of those that get it. Almost everyone is a carrier (pretty much anyone over the age of 5-8 years), and many things can cause it to crop back up. However, many of us never see it again after the original infection...we're just carriers and we neither spread it nor do we show any signs of it, our immune systems just keep it in a dormant state.

So, you don't "catch" it again, it just comes back from a long-past case of chickenpox.

Which reminds me that my immune system got a boost in resistance to this virus when I cared for a young lady with chickenpox a few years ago.

This happened in 2005. I had never heard of anyone catching shingles before; I thought it was some disease people caught in developing countries, like malaria and scurvy or something.

Originally Posted by targo

really? When you care for someone with the chicken pox you strengthen your immune system?

Here's what the National Institute of Health has to say about it.

[targo]

I know about Shingles and about Chicken pox... I actually had the chicken pox twice because my first case of it was so very mild. I also have had 3 kids and a husband with it, and I cared for them all, as well as a little boy I was taking care of. So I was just wondering if it was true that my immune to chicken pox would be stronger... that is all.

[proteanmix]

If I'm reading this correctly, if you've had chickenpox, you can still develop shingles in adulthood. Only when you're an adult, it's shingles and not chickenpox.

An adult who has never had chickenpox or shingles before can "catch" chickenpox (not shingles) if they come into contact with someone who has an open shingles blister.

I think I just confused myself.

From the CDC

Who gets shingles?

Anyone who has recovered from chickenpox may develop shingles, including children. However, shingles most commonly occurs in people 50 years old and older. The risk of getting shingles increases as a person gets older. People who have medical conditions that keep the immune system from working properly, like cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or people who receive immunosuppressive drugs, such as steroids and drugs given after organ transplantation are also at greater risk to get shingles.

How often can a person get shingles?

Most commonly, a person has only one episode of shingles in his/her lifetime. Although rare, a second or even third case of shingles can occur.

Can shingles be spread to others?

Shingles cannot be passed from one person to another. However, the virus that causes shingles, VZV, can be spread from a person with active shingles to a person who has never had chickenpox through direct contact with the rash. The person exposed would develop chickenpox, not shingles. The virus is not spread through sneezing, coughing or casual contact. A person with shingles can spread the disease when the rash is in the blister-phase. Once the rash has developed crusts, the person is no longer contagious. A person is not infectious before blisters appear or with post-herpetic neuralgia (pain after the rash is gone).

[targo]

no my husbands first case of chicken pox was 2yrs ago, it was 2 weeks after my daughter had it and my 2 little boys as well as the little boy I was babysitting at the time all had it as well..... 4 boys with the chicken pox.... eek!

[proteanmix]

I've never had chickenpox before, even after rubbing myself against my brother and sister when they had it so I could catch it and stay out of school. Now I'm just going to avoid people with festering blisters on their skin. Put them out of the city gates.

[heart]

Both my mother and father had bouts of shingles at the close of their lives as their immune systems began to get weaker. My MIL has also had problems with shingles. All were told it was the chickenpox virus that had laid dormant within them all those years.

I never had chickenpox. I got the vax in my early 30's just in case.

[Wolf]

Originally Posted by targo

really? When you care for someone with the chicken pox you strengthen your immune system?

If your body encounters the virus when active, and your body has fought it off before, yes.

I don't know how some of you could avoid it if you ever encountered any other children. Chances are higher that you had some exposure to another herpes virus that gained you sufficient immunity to never end up with the usual body-wide rash. It's exceptionally rare that people pre-vaccine could avoid it through childhood.

[cafe]

I had a mild case of shingles in the late eighties. I was a junior in high school and it was unpleasant. I'm glad I didn't get it worse and that I haven't had it again.