Can exposure to chicken pox activate Shingles?I was around my cousins with chicken pox this weekend and wanted to know if I should be checked out just to be safe.
Answer by vanessa b
Only if you havent had the chicken pox as a child
Answer by Lisa K
No, but if you have not had chickenpox or the vaccine you could of course catch chickenpox from them (not shingles).
Answer by jcf6865
My first thought is, What were you thinking?. Chicken Pox is a very contagious disease and you can contract it at any age. Shingles is a form of chicken pox and often occurs in people who had the disease when quite young and seemed to carry it in their system. Talk to your Doctor.
Answer by Rubym
I don't think somebody could get shingles from being around somebody with chicken pox. Chicken pox/shingles virus lies dormant in the nerve roots until something happens with the immune system and shingles erupts. But it is more likely an older person with other chronic health problems or a person under extreme stress that causes the herpes germ that causes them to activate. If you have never had chicken pox, you can get chicken pox, but probably not shingles at this time. If you had chicken pox, you could get shingles at some time in your life but probably not from re-exposure to the germ.
How old are you? I believe kids today get Chicken pox vaccinations. And they also can prevent shingles. Older people probably do not have chicken pox vaccinations unless it is to prevent Shingles .
If you have not had chicken pox or the vaccine check with your doctor. And watch for signs like a rash, etc. I don't know if a doctor can do anything for the week or 10 days or so between exposure and the outbreak of the rash. But check and see how long it takes for the vaccine to go to work, probably it would not help if you were just exposed but could in the future.
But shingles (Herpes Zoster) usually hits older people or people with compromised immune systems, with cancer, AIDS, heart problems, etc. It happens in young people but is rare.
Chicken Pox is often a more serious, though rarely life threatening disease for adults and teenagers. I got it at 13 and had it worse than my 5 and 7 year old siblings.
Get the facts on the chickenpox vaccine, treatment, causes (varicella zoster virus, VZV), symptoms and signs (itchy, red rash).
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