Shingles bell for xmas and Mil

[arcticpandas]

My 15 y old son has got the shingles. My Mil says he can't come to hers because she's afraid. I have told her it is not contagieus unless she licks his back (only on back) because she has already had chicken pox as has the rest of the family.

She is convinced that it is contagieus even though I have sent her nhs links "oh, I don't care about the net" because she is adamant she got it from someone in her thirties and it was extremely painful. She does anecdotal evidence rather than scientific ex insists on antibiotics for viral infections so you can't reason with her. She's normally a lovely woman and a wonderful grandma but my son is so sad if he has to stay home for christmas (with me ofcourse). Personally I don't care but since christmas is important for him I'm frustrated with her stance on this. So DH and ds2 will go and ds1 will he heartbroken. To add: he's autistic and very immature, I doubt his brother would be as upset as him for ex.

Am I unreasonable to think that Mil should follow scientific guidance rather than her own "experiences"?

(And why didn't she get the vaccine when she went to have her covid and flu jab if she's so worried about it- they do all three and it's on a big sign in our pharmacy we both go to).

You can only get shingles if you have already had chickenpox.

I took my brother to the doctor as he had shingles. We actually saw a consultant due to complications. He assured us that shingles is not contagious. But I’m sure your personal situation proves all medical advice wrong!

You are wrong - you cannot develop shingles if you haven’t had chickenpox. However, some people may have had chickenpox as a child so mildly that they (or their caregivers) were unaware. Shingles is a re-emergence of the same virus, but it has to be present already in your body in order to reactivate, obviously.

Correct. A lot of misinformation on here!

Your DH should stay at home. Why do his Mothers feelings trump his own sons? That’s absolutely appalling!

I started a thread a couple of years ago about the Shingrix vaccine and how immunocompromised adults aged 50+ could access it via their GP, and a poster came on purporting to be a nurse at a GP surgery spouting unnecessarily ill-tempered crap.

Bizarre.

I was hospitalised with chicken pox after being in close contact with shingles. I wouldnt mix.

OP has posted many times to explain that her son prefers to spend the day with just her. He doesn't want his dad and brother to stay behind. His autism is a factor in this.

Presumably you had not already had CP though, unlike the lady in question.

I had as a child but must have been mild.

So what you’re saying is if you haven’t had chickenpox you can’t catch the virus?

Yes more or less, although you don’t catch shingles, it is reactivation of the chickenpox virus often triggered by illness/ stress etc

How was your Christmas OP? And how's your son?

You cant catch shingles from shingles or shingles from contact with chickenpox.

You can catch chickenpox from shingles by contact with fluid from blisters.

You cant develop shingles unless you had chickenpox in the past as shingles is the dormant chickenpox virus reactivating along the line of a nerve in times of stress/low immune system, etc