Shingles

[sunnyrosegarden]

And there was me thinking this was something only grannies get.

DS, aged 7, was diagnosed today. Fine in himself, at school with doctor's blessing, but no swimming etc, keeping the rash covered and calpol at the ready if necessary.

Anyone else known a child with it?

I had it when i was 15, can't remembet much about it though, other than i have a scar on my chest where they were.

ds had it at 11 and several of dd's friends also have in primary years.

Yes- my 6 year old DS had it earlier this year. I took him to the GP as the rash was really painful and itchy (I thought it was an eczema flare up) and was gobsmacked when she took one look and announced it was shingles. He was fine apart from feeling a little under the weather and the rash being sore. The GP prescribed something (could it have been acyclovir?) but did say we had to keep him off school- which I now know is nonsense! He still has a faint scar and says it occasionally itches but it wasn't as big a deal as I might have imagined. How's your DS doing?

Dd had it when she was about 6. She was fine, just a blistery rash that went in a few weeks.

ds had it aged 3. He still has some scarring on one side of his chest

I had it when I was 11. I remember 3 doctors ending up in the first GP's room because none of them were sure whether a child could get it

I remember having loads of that pink nappy cream slathered on my back. And spending a long time reading face down on the bed (mine was on my back) with my t-shirt rolled up!

Hope he feels ok.

Ds2 got it when he was 6. The doctor said it couldn't possibly be shingles until dd got chicken pox a few days later then she changed her mind. He was fine with it no itching and no scars

DS had chicken pox at 5 months really bad. First week of school aged 4.10 he got shingles.

Dr said he had never seen it in a child before. I wonder if he will get it again at some point.

cataline your doctor was right about keeping your ds off school. While you can't catch shingles from someone with shingles, someone who hasn't had chicken pox before can catch chicken pox off someone with shingles. If that makes sense!

if they get chicken pox under 1 year then it puts them at greater risk of getting childhood shingles (ds had CP at around 5/6 months and shingles at age 3)

they dont need to be off school if the rash is covered as it is spread through direct contact with the fluid from the blisters so is not airborne

You can only catch chicken pox from contact with the blisters so if it's covered up school is ok.

Sorry, meant to say it's not very common op, but can happen. I hope your ds isn't suffering too much with it.

Ah yes, fair point, much easier to cover up than chicken pox. Though it depends a bit where it is, a hand or face are hard to cover!

Ah, that makes sense, as he had a bad case of chicken pox at 4 months.

It's on his side, so covered with his shirt and vest, and school are quite happy with him being in. They just made sure a pregnant TA was aware.

He's absolutely fine in himself. I thought it was dermatitis as is was like an allergy rash. Poor love.

Yes DD had it at about 5, having had cp before age 1. I thought it was eczema but all the GPs came in to have a look :) and agreed it was in fact shingles. DS got cp exactly 2 weeks later (they have baths together).

Dd had two immunocompromised kids in her class so stayed off a couple of days while she began acyclovir. Otherwise she wpuld have gone in.

The people most at risk would prob be other kids OP, as they are generally grubbylittle monkeys who show each other wierd things like rashes... I imagine as long as there are no kids on immunosupressants or undergoing chemoall should be fine.

DS had shingles when he started reception. He wasn't diagnosed until after blisters had scabbed over so no point keeping him off school at this point. He too had lesions on chest and back so well covered. However, there was a small outbreak of chickenpox in his class a couple of weeks later.
I think younger children are more likely to scratch blisters then the virus is spread by contact.
DS had cp at 2yrs old and was very poorly. He was admitted to hospital with suspected meningitis. Interestingly one of the girls he was at nursery with and who had same strain of cp also had shingles at the same time. It is possible that some strains are more likely to cause shingles in later life.

I've had it twice, once at probably your DS's age, then again at 21. No problems the first time, and I barely remember it. The second time was horrendous. Excruciating and exhausting. I hope to never have it again.

Dd1's friend had it aged six. She was obviously covered by school uniform but showed the rash to her friends. Some of them had a feel too. Guess what happened next...