Has anybody contracted shingles from herpes like chickenpox?

[Mia]

Has anybody contracted shingles from herpes like chickenpox

[WCSDancer2010]

Mia -

 

Shingles is a whole 'nuther kettle of fish - yes it is from a Herpes virus. It hides in the nerve ganglion like HSV1 and 2, but it comes out in other areas - usually the torso - years after you got exposed to the Chicken Pox. While we touch on it here, our main focus is the STD-related herpes issues.....

 

Why are you asking? Do you believe you have Shingles?

[Mia]

No my Aunt got it and she is 50.

Shingles looks like herpes so hard to tell

[Mia]

Is Shingles contagious?

[mr_hopp]

This discussion was created from comments split from: Adulthood, fuck yeah..

[WCSDancer2010]

Well, the only thing that makes them look the same is the blisters but how they present is a whole 'nuther thing. As I mentioned, Shingles mostly shows up on the torso ...the back/upper arms and stomach. If you never had chicken pox, you won't get shingles if you are exposed to someone with it - you will actually get chicken px (which is NOT fun as an adult)

 

The CDC has a great info page here

 

http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/about/transmission.html

 

This is part of their description:

Shingles cannot be passed from one person to another. However, the virus that causes shingles, the varicella zoster virus, can be spread from a person with active shingles to a person who has never had chickenpox. In such cases, the person exposed to the virus might develop chickenpox, but they would not develop shingles. The virus is spread through direct contact with fluid from the rash blisters, not through sneezing, coughing or casual contact

 

 

So yes, it can be passed from one person to another but only through direct contact with the outbreak...

 

[Mia]

Probably shouldnt touch a person with shingles then. Sounds like you can get CP.

[WCSDancer2010]

You don't want to touch the blisters/OB's.... and they need to practice good hygiene ..ie, hand washing after touching the rash, etc. But you should be able to hug them/etc. And if you already had chicken pox, you won't get reinfected....

[WCSDancer2010]

Again...from the CDC site:

 

A person with shingles can spread the virus when the rash is in the blister-phase. A person is not infectious before blisters appear. Once the rash has developed crusts, the person is no longer contagious.

 

Shingles is less contagious than chickenpox and the risk of a person with shingles spreading the virus is low if the rash is covered.

[Paris]

Well my patner told me he had shingles I was wondering did I pass the herpes virus to him?

[WCSDancer2010]

@Paris

 

Again.... Genital/Oral Herpes (HSV 1&2) are NOT Shingles. Shingles is from the Herpes Varicella virus which causes Chicken Pox... so your partner would have had Chicken Pox as a kid, and then it came back as Shingles ....

 

There are several Herpes viruses out there ... another causes Mono for instance. So just saying Herpes without giving the type is liable to get people confused.

 

Assuming you have HSV (Herpes Simplex) then yes, you *could* pass it to him, but it won't present as like Shingles does ....they look different and generally come up in two different areas of the body ...