Does chicken pox cause shingles in old people???

[sexymuthafunker]

Think DD2 has chicken pox and asking by my mum to look after her so I can work... mum is in her 70's and worried this will give her shingles... is this true??

[MissisBee]

No it won't give her shingles. However, if your mum has never had chicken pox herself, it could give her chicken pox

[Palendrominca]

Shingles is caused by the same virus as chickenpox, basically if you have had chickenpox a small amount of the virus remains asleep in your body, it can reactivate and this causes shingles. However you cannot catch shingles from a person with chickenpox

NHS Choices Link

[sexymuthafunker]

S... iif she has had CP she could trigger shingles from contact with DD - and if she hasn't had CP she could once get CP - either way it doesn't sound good does it? FFS I really need to go to work 🙄

[FruitCider]

No, you cannot catch shingles from chicken pox. In fact, exposure to chicken pox makes it less likely you have shingles (and this is why the uk do not vaccinate against chicken pox).

[sexymuthafunker]

Ok looks like you can get CP from shingles but not the other way round. Thanks for the link Palendrominca!

[missyB1]

No CP won't give your mum shingles. By the way I believe there is a vaccination for the elderly against shingles now, I seem to remember seeing a poster at the GP surgery, might be worth your mum enquiring.

[eternalopt]

Had the same thing recently with my grandparents and yes, you can get cp from shingles (but shingles are less contagious than cp) but you can't get shingles from cp. once you've had cp, the virus stays in your body and can come back as shingles later in life, but it's more to do with being run down and your immune system being low. It's not because you've been in contact with cp. like a cold sore, it just flares up when you're run down.

[dementedpixie]

Contact with wild chicken pox can help boost immunity and help prevent shingles. There is a shingles vaccine.

[TondelayaDellaVentamiglia]

you just need to be sure your ma has had CP then she's fine....if she gets shingles it will be from her own CP not your dd's

[geddes]

Contact with wild chicken pox can help boost immunity and help prevent shingles.

I read a while back that GPs and people in occupations like child care have lower rates of shingles in old age.

[terrylene]

When half the school was coming down with chicken pox, I got shingles . I was 13.

It may have been chance, but I have never won the lottery........

However, when DS, DTDs and DH all got CP, I was fine .

I am not convinced it is Impossible to 'catch' shingles from chicken pox, but it does not usually happen to other people