Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: son + shingles + chickenpox  Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/7/2008)

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Can my son catch chickenpox from someone with shingles?

Shingles is a painful rash which occurs in someone who has previously had chickenpox.

Ever since your mother had chickenpox the Varicella Zoster virus which caused it has laid silently in the nerve roots of her spinal cord - this is what happens to anyone after they have had chickenpox. The virus can be reactivated for several reasons, usually tiredness or stress or being run down because of another illness such as flu. Occasionally a person's immune system may be deficient leading to reactivation of the virus.

Once the virus is reactivated it does not cause typical chickenpox but instead causes a rash which tracks along the same area of skin supplied by one of the nerve roots in her spinal cord. This might be a patch on her back or along a wrist but can be anywhere on one side of her body. The rash consists of little fluid filled blisters, often red and sore. Because the nerve is inflamed shingles usually causes severe pain in the same area, typically the pain starts a couple of days before the rash appears and can last several weeks after the rash has faded.

The fluid in the blisters contains live chickenpox virus. In theory your son could catch chickenpox if this fluid came into contact with his mouth or nose. In practice this hardly ever happens as the area of skin which is affected by shingles is usually hidden beneath clothing.

The incubation period for chickenpox is three weeks (21 days) so you may not know for some time whether your son is going to develop chickenpox. As children are not vaccinated against chickenpox in this country it is a good idea for him to get it before he grows up , if possible before he starts school. The illness can be quite severe in an adult and can cause huge disruption and loss of schooling if it spreads around a school class.

Although he may be poorly for up to a week with a rash and mild fever chickenpox at your son's age is not usually a severe illness, needing only infant paracetamol to reduce any fever and lotions such as aqueous calamine to soothe the itching. He may be contagious if he is incubating chickenpox and he needs to avoid close contact with newborn babies, pregnant mothers who have not had chickenpox themselves and anyone with low immunity, for example people on chemotherapy.