AIBU to ask any of you mners with knowledge of chicken pox...

[whatsallthehullaballoo]

I know from the thread abut what careers/ jobs we have that are some very clever people indeed on here...

I had chicken pox as a child. When my dd got pox a few years ago I had some blisters come on my arms and chest which dried up after 2 days...so a mild case of pox yes?

My ds now has pox and I have just seen I have a blister on my chest and spots on my neck. How can this happen again? Is it pox or coincidence. A pissed off because i wanted to go out later on my own but I suppose I cannot if I am carrying pox.

[TotallyLovely]

I have heard you can get it twice . . .

that's about the limit of my knowledge.

[ajandjjmum]

Maybe check out that it's not shingles, because if it is you can have treatment in the early stages that will knock it on the head.

I thought you could only get CP once but that you could get shingles several times.

My DC infected two adults with shingles when they were small.

[Pancakeflipper]

Some people do catch it more than once... My friend has a 6 yr old daughter and she's had chickenpox 4 times. Mild cases every time.

Not sure if you have it again... But it's a possibility. Oh I am the bringer of bad Friday afternoon news.

[BornSicky]

i used to be a swimming teacher and got shingles a few times from little daahlings who had been allowed to go swimming with chicken pox!

sorry, yes it's probably shingles. the blisters tend to follow a nerve line (IIRC), so if you catch it early enough it might not spread too far.

[MrsKwazii]

Just to echo others, while it's unusual, you can get CP more than once. My sister had it twice as a child, v badly both times. Worth a chat with GP once you're clear again. Hope your DS is ok soon

[Birdsgottafly]

You can get CP more than once especially if you don't have a very strong immune system and some people are more prone than others, such as some get stomach upsets. CP can mutate and there is medical evidence that shows that it is changing. There has always been different strains across the world, this is only just being extensively studied because of the movement of people. So no one has all the answers because we don't know yet.

[Mabelface]

I've had it twice, the second time as an adult.

[whatsallthehullaballoo]

Thank you ladies - I do not think it is shingles. I feel ok I think...a bit itchy over the spots but as it is the same as when my daughter had it I think I may just have a very mild case again.

I am housebound now arn't I. Bugger. I was supposed to be babysitting tonight! Will check if they have all had pox before I go!!

[greygirl]

Shingles is a recurrance of chickenpox - it is the 'reactivation' of the dormant virus in a nerve root - that's why it always occurs in the same place, the bit the nerve deals with, that's why it's so painful. (It's a bit like herpes/coldsores because chickenpox is in the herpes virus family).
So you can catch chickenpox from shingles, but shingles comes from within yourself - usually when your immune system is low - you are tired, rundown, have another illness etc. might be worth seeing your GP because 4 times, and not much pain makes one wonder why you are not developing an immunity to it properly. (but it may be beinf knackered looking after ill children of course)

[QueenStromba]

It's perfectly possible to get any virus multiple times. All viruses change over time (some more quickly than others - chicken pox is a type of virus that evolves pretty slowly) and if the part of the virus that the immune system had developed antibodies against has changed even slightly then the immune system either won't recognise the virus at all or the antibodies will only bind weakly to the antigen resulting in a lower than usual immune response on reinfection.

[whatsallthehullaballoo]

Now I am scared and going to wake up looking like my son....oh the fear!! What if I have shingles!! I won't be able to work forever and parents (I am a childminder) are going to kill me!!!!

[Birdsgottafly]

You do need to inform them as they may be visiting elderly relatives over the weekend and shingles is very severe in an elderly person and can cause death. Also anyone who is immune supressed can end up seriously ill with both CP and shingles.

[fuckmepinkandcallmerosie]

Shingles is tiny wee blisters, or it was when I had it, just on one side of the body usually

[HappySeven]

Shingles follows a nerve so is concentrated in one area. You CAN'T catch it from chicken pox and if your spots resemble chicken pox that is possibly what it is. Some unfortunate people do catch it more than once. I hope you're not one of them.

[MissMap]

I've got shingles, Gp has given me anti viral tablets and said it is important to take them as soon as you suspect you have shingles. I dont have a huge rash but as I have had it before I recognised it, and got the tablets before it could get-a-hold!
Why don't you see your GP and avoid any unnecessary suffering?
My DDs think its hilarious that I have an "OAP's disease".

[whatsallthehullaballoo]

Well - I don't have anything more. The blisters have dried up again. I think (unscientifically) that I keep getting a very mild case of cp and that my immune system kicks in and knocks it on the head. Weird. But thank you all for your concern!

[Lindax]

normally the first time you catch chickenpox you build an immunity to it, but some people don't.

there was a member of staff in ds's nursery who never developed an immunity to it, I can remember her catching it 3 times during the 4 years ds was at the nursery. It was chickenpox she caught not shingles.

think i would be consider a career change in her shoes

[SmethwickBelle]

I think you can get it more than once, both DS's have had a good dose of it but recently when it was going around the nursery I spotted a couple of blisters (literally two) on DS1 that just went away and that was that.

[bruffin]

I was only in my 20s when I had shingles. I got it 12 spots on my right buttock a week after bending down and burning it on a radiator. I had the spots 4 days then found a really painful lump in my groin and just felt dreadul. Went to the gp and I had infected shingles, so OP do go to GP.