DH has shingles...can we visit our nephew who has had no vaccinations?

[user1477282676]

DH been feeling rotten for about a week now....today he came up in the tell tale spotty looking things across his side, back and some on legs.

We're meant to be going to MIL"s tomorrow for boxing day lunch....but SIL has a 2 year old who is completely unvaccinated. (I know, I know...don't ask!}

Will it be bad for our nephew? What happens? Can we still go or should we cancel?

We've just called MIL to let her know...she's saying "Oh it's fine!" which she would say because of course she wants us to go...but DH told her to tell SIL because it's up to her.

What's the sensible thing?

[AlbusPercival]

Sre you certain its shingles?

You only get the rash on one part of the body normally and certainly only one one side.

[NellysKnickers]

Fine as long as rash is covered. And if anyone should stay away it should be SIL and her dc not your dh. Fellow shingle sufferer here. Hope your dh is better soon.

[Caper86]

What has him not being vaccinated got anything to do with shingles? You need to clue yourself up on vaccines before judging.

[AwaywiththePixies27]

You can get chicken pox more than once. My DS has already had it twice. First time he was grumpy and under the weather - he got absolutely peppered in the spots. The second time he was actually quite poorly and needed a shedload of antiviral medicine to help him through.

I think the clothes thing may be true, a friend of my mums once had shingles and we were in contact with her regularly that month and we were all fine.

Agree with others, as scary as your SIL sounds, you need to tell her and let her decide if she wants to take the risk.

[Mindtrope]

Vaccination is not without risks.

My kids had their MMR for the first time at 14 years old.

[mirokarikovo]

Do you not have any way to contact your SIL/BIL directly?

Tbh as she's an anti-vaxxer she'll be wanting dn to get CP sooner or later. But you'd be providing a useful public service for the benefit of everyone she knows if you could say something like he may not be that infectious but I just needed to let you know as obviously it would be massively inconsiderate to knowingly expose anyone to potential infection without warning - If you can get that sentence across you may even save the life of someone unknown to you who is vulnerable to infections and likely to get very ill whenever dn gets infections as he doubtless will.

[Frollyhollyday]

They don't vaccinate against chicken pox so his lack of vaccinations is irrelevant.

I as an adult wouldn't want to be exposed to shingles...so I'd rely on their opinion

[mudandmayhem01]

If the op isn't in the UK CP pox vaccine might be routinely offered.

[SayHelloToMyLittleFriend]

Hi, I had shingles last month and was still able to go to work (I work in a nursery) I went to the doctor to check and she said as long as the rash was kept covered it was fine. I hope your husband is ok.

[Garyfetacheese]

My DD (a toddler at the time) caught chickenpox from my Father when he had shingles. Also, what about the adults that would be there, have they all had chickenpox? If anyone is immunocompromised it can be more serious. I have Ulcerative Colitis and when I caught chickenpox as an adult it was taken very seriously by my GP.

[jarofpickles]

I doubt it's shingles if it's affecting back and leg as it affects one dermatome, so normally one patch of back or a leg.

Otherwise it's fine to go IMO.

[PossumInAPearTree]

It's very unlikely to be shingles if it's more than one place. It follows a nerve root and doesn't cross the midline.

[LIZS]

If it is shingles your nephew wouldn't have been routinely vaccinated against it or chicken pox anyway. It isn't considered contagious as long as the rash is covered, unlike cp which is airborne transmitted. He has a far higher risk form of catching cp by mixing with his peers or going to supermarket, soft play etc.

[SmellyChristmasCandles]

I had shingles recently on my leg. I work in a school and my gp insisted on giving me a certificate for a week as he said I could pass on chickenpox to anyone who was not immune to it. I always wear trousers to work so it was covered but doctor was very insistent about it. He also explained that cp is dangerous to an unborn baby if the mother hasn't had cp previously.
If your do has shingles, I'd avoid contact with nephew. But what you've described doesn't sound like it as gp explained it follows a nerve line - he even showed me diagrams on their intranet.

[ladyvimes]

Shingles is only passed on through touch. It should be fine as long as your dh covers the sores.

[Bohemond]

I agree that it's unlikely to be shingles if it's in quite a few places. Could be something worse in terms of an unvaccinated child.

[user1477282676]

To answer a few questions, we're in Oz....I don't know if they vax against chicken pox...I mentioned the fact the nephew isn't vaxed because I didn't know if that made him more vulnerable or anything...the whole thing is quite confusing.

THe rash DH has does look like shingles...but if people say that it only goes on one side, then I don't know what it could be!

Someone said to call SIL as MIL "surely won't pass on the message" and MIL WILL pass it on...she has.

We phoned MIL to talk further about it and she's fine....DH feels quite unwell now and in the morning, if he's still bad, we will see the doctor...no good going to meet family when he's all rashy and we don't know what it is.

[DoosyFartlek]

The boy is bound to catch Chicken pox at some stage and it's less painful getting it younger

[BoreOfWhabylon]

Shingles definitely only affects one side of the body. If he's feeling unwell and has a blistery rash in several areas it's far more likely that he has chickenpox.

[FurryLittleTwerp]

Not impossible to have shingles on both sides but certainly very unusual.

Shingles is much less contagious than chickenpox.

Chickenpox is usually a mild self-limiting illness. Usually.

Antivaxxers are bloody idiots.

[user1477282676]

He's had chicken pox though....the reason we thought shingles was the appearance and the fact that the skin in the areas is very sensitive, burning...and he;s had a few stabby type pains.

[AwaywiththePixies27]

user it doesn't matter if DH has already had CP. You van catch it more than once. My DS is only 7 and already had it twice. I thought it was just eczema, and took to the docs who confirmed it was CP again, I remember saying to her but he's already had it, reply "yes, and hes got it again". My aunts DH has had it three times. She's looked after him through all three times and not caught it.

I dont think being not vaxxed in this case would make him any more vulnerable to catching them. Here in the UK the CP vax isn't given routinely like other vax scheduled but it is available if you want to pay privately.

[EachandEveryone]

Absolutely not.

[CoteDAzur]

If your nephew is unvaccinated, surely the idea is that he will catch all childhood diseases at some point. This shouldn't be a surprise to your SIL.

Tell them your DH has shingles and let them make their own mind up about whether they want to bring their child to that lunch.