Explain chickenpox to me

[NotSoThinLizzy]

DD (whos 10) school is over run with chicken pox atm. DD has already had them. Can she pass it onto her newborn brother? Like carry it home from school?

May be a silly question I did try a google but nothing really came up

No, if she's immune she can't contract the virus again and if she hasn't got the virus she can't pass it on

Some people can get it more than once, poor DD has had it three times, but they're the exception rather than the rule and most people are immune after one dose. Its highly unlikely she will catch it and bring it home to her brother.

What's shingles then? Isn't that getting chicken pox for a second time? I presume it just develops rather than you catch it again though. Seems to be very painful and happen to people around 60 yrs old.

Isn't that getting chicken pox for a second time?

They are caused by the same thing.

Iirc, the difference is that chickenpox occurs all over the body and shingles is localised.

When you’ve had chicken pox I believe the virus can lie dormant in your nervous system. When you are run down, or immune suppressed, the virus can become shingles - a skin rash that can be painful, blisters and can move along nerves (so if on face can impact on optic nerve).

Ds has had shingles and is only 14. Puberty = run down and knackered. My step mother got shingles shortly after my father died. Friend had it (and has lost some vision in one eye) just after her second baby was born and she was very run down.

And shingles only contagious to people who haven’t had chicken pox and only if they come into contact with the blisters - so fine if the rash kept covered. It’s not airborne.

Ahh good to know thanks 😊

Ds has also had shingles. He was also about 14.

My daughter had chicken pox twice as a child. Both bad. The 2nd time she also had spots down her throat and inside her noo-noo. Not a virus to be taken lightly (or lying down 😂😂😂).

Shingles, as I've found, is a weird one. You're supposed to not get it if you d had chickenpox. You're supposed to only get it once. You're supposed to only get it along one "dermatome" (nerve).

My DS had chickenpox then got shingles. To date he's had it 17 times. He has had it on opposite sides of his body at same time. A few doctors seen him, loads of tests, they refer to him as a medical anomaly.

Newborn babies often have some passive immunity from you too. DS got chicken pox at 4 months and got about 10 tiny spots. We thought it was insect bites until he passed it on. I don't know whether this was due to breastfeeding or immunity passed on from birth though, or a bit of both.

I'm currently breastfeeding and it's been a god send everyone around is ill with this cold/virus thing since xmas and baby hasn't picked it up yet

Chickenpox can be caught more than once but is generally only a one time thing. Your dd can’t pass it on if she doesn’t have it.
The shingles virus is in your body if you’ve had chickenpox. It can rear it’s ugly head whenever it wants, usually if someone is run down, and as many times as it wants.

There's a bit of miss information on here so let me try to explain a few points (I study immunology and an active research scientist). Babies do tend to have immunity from their mother but this does tend to wear off after 9 - 12 months hence why a vaccine is available from one year old, but there is a risk of transmission. But if you are exposed to the disease, even if you have had it before then yes you can pass it on, even if it's not visible on you and yes you can display symptoms more than once depending on your own immunogenicity. Hence why the shingles immunity boost theory exists.

Shingles and chickenpox are exactly the same virus. Shingles breaks out when someone who has had chickenpox before has something suppressing their immune system which allows the virus to become active again. This can be because of being run down, or in older people because of other conditions reducing immunogenicity.

Best thing to do if you don't want your little one to get chickenpox is to vaccinate (sadly only private at the moment), as although in most it's mild, like with one of my mummy friend's son, it can result in hospitalisation due to infections.

There has been a vaccine available for years now, buts its not part of the regular childhood schedule. Its free though if you have high risk members in the family though.

That's really interesting emmyhum.

I've always wondered whether some people get Hand Foot and Mouth and mistake it as chicken pox as the spots look quite similar and symptoms can also be similar. DH said he had chicken pox twice but when DS got HF&M MIL said she hadn't heard of it, but I assume it must have been around 30 years ago?

The vaccine is available from the age of one. My toddler caught it and didn't pass it on to her newborn brother. She caught it off me when I had shingles! The GP said her brother would be covered by my immunity until around 6 months old. Amazing that he didn't catch it from my shingles given he was BF and attached to me constantly (the reason I was exhausted and got shingles in the first place!)

You can get the vaccine at 9 months now. My DD is 12mo and just had her second dose yesterday. The only difference is the doses need to be three months apart if they're younger than 1.

Great stuff thanks everyone

If your dd had a good dose of cp the first time it's very unlikely she'll get them again, so is immune and can't transport it!