Shingles + Pregnancy (+ MS!!)

[Twinkie]

Advice please ladies.

We are off to a wedding reception on Saturday evening and one of the ushers has shingles - DP spoke to him last night and he said he only has a few marks left and so is going to go to the wedding joking all the while that he would have to stay away from the old, young or pregnant guests - well thats at least 2 of us - me and the bride (2 weeks more pregnant than me) and the bride also has MS so I presume not such a great immune system.

DP has said that although he would love to go he won't if I feel that there is a chance that I would get it but I am not sure what to do and what the risks are.

I had chicken pox when I was about 4 and I thought you could not get chicken pox again if you had had them once but could get shingles - DPs friend said that his doctor said that I could not get shingles but I could get chicken pox again.

What is the truth and what would you do? - I don't want to get ill because I don't have the time and I think being ill when pregnant is awful and DD has not had chicken pox and although I want her to get it I would rather it not be 2 weeks before we are due to go on holiday and I don't know that the baby wouldn't be affected but as I am 22 weeks now I think there is less danger of complications but I donlt know for sure.

Anyway I am also worried about the bride - the usher only told the groom last night and apparently he was pissed after drinking from yesterday lunchtime and I don't think would have taken it in properly!!

Am I being neurotic or is the usher being a selfish bastard (he is most of the time anyway)!!

I thought that if you had shingles you could give someone chicken pox if they haven't had it before. You can only get shingles from yourself, ie it's a recurrence of the herpes virus which lies dormant within you once you've had chickenpox.

So I'd say you could not get anything from him but there's a small possibility your daughter could get chickenpox. I'm not a doctor though.

You can get shingles becuase you had CP when you were 4. HOwever you can't catch shingles from shingles. If you ever get shingles - then it has been reawakened from your 4 year old bout. That can happen when you are run down- but not just from seeing someone with shingles.

Someone who hasn't had chickenpox can get chinckenpox from shingles. But if you've had it you should be immune.

As for the bride and MS... same as before really- if she has had chickenpox xhe should be fine, if she hasn't then she is at risk of catching chickenpox from someone with shingles.

Firstly, you can't catch chicken pox OR shingles from shingles BUT someone who hasn't had chicken pox can catch CP from shingles.

Secondly, my DS1 (then 20 months) came down with shingles when I was 7 months pregnant. Obviously couldn't avoid contact with him but GP said it wouldn't be a problem anyway because I'd had chicken pox as a child.

If you hadn't had chicken pox as a child, then there may have been a problem.

Not sure about the implications for MS - I do know that chicken pox can have implications for those who are immune-suppressed/on oral steroids etc.

Agree with Jimjams. You should be OK, as you've had CP. Your daughter may get CP but risk is low if he is nearly over the shingles (after all, even CP itself isn't that contagious after the first few days). I think your friend with MS should be OK if she has had CP, but if she hasn't then there's a risk of her catching it.

Having said all that, there is always a slight risk that you could catch CP again because it is possible, although very unusual, to catch it more than once. (It happens because immunity can wane over the years, and it usually occurs in people who have CP very midly the first time.)

HTH.