Catching chickenpox twice?

[SR876]

My daughter has chicken pox and as expected I'm keeping her off nursery etc, I have been taking her out in her pram around the fields near me (very rural) just to get her out. My grandmother joined us today, has had chicken pox before so we didn't think much of it. We were walking and she didn't hug her or kiss her, stroked her leg once but she doesn't have any spots there.

Anyway, my grandmother has since spoken to 111 and the Dr said that it's very common to catch chickenpox twice, especially if you're vulnerable!

This is literally the first time I've heard of this, I knew you could catch it twice but only very rarely and if you had it first as a very young baby before your immune system is set etc. Has anyone else heard of this being very common? I'm a bit worried for my grandmother now (83 but very healthy) as neither of us had a clue, even NHS online says you can't catch shingles or get chickenpox twice except in very rare circumstances. My mum (who has also had it as a child) also looked after her for a few hours as again we both thought once you've had it you're immune.

Eldest has had it 3 times, I caught it again as an adult from next oldest child. Neither I or my eldest were babies when we first had it. It's still pretty rare though.

@KateWinwood1986 there's literally nothing online saying this is common at all so I'm very confused, I've also never heard of someone catching it twice.

@BarryShitpea oh wow that's interesting, I've not heard about it happening before. Thank you!

I know someone who has had it twice

Why call 111 if no spots?

If you've already had chicken pox, another dose of it often appears as shingles

I had it twice as a child.

Would a CP vaccine be beneficial?

My son had it twice, both times severe. On the second occasion the doctor told me that getting it a second time was 'almost impossible' but had to concede because it was confirmed in hospital on both occasions.

It can happen but is quite rare. I don't know anyone else who has had it twice.

I’ve had it 3 times and shingles once…! But - I have a lot of autoimmune and health issues (Addisons, lupus, pituitary tumour, asthma etc etc). It’s not common to have it as many times as me but it’s certainly possible to have it more than once.

I have had it twice- once as a mild case as a child and then again when I was around 20 as an adult. Having it as an adult was definitely miserable- I looked like a human dot to dot! I picked it up while working in retail from a child who came in with chickenpox. I didn't even interact with them but still caught it.

A childhood friend has also had it three times.

I believe it is rare, but there will be the odd person who falls foul of it more than once.

Thanks everyone for your responses.

@CalloohCallayFrabjousDay she rang 111 before coming to meet me and they said they couldn't say if it was fine for her to meet us or not and to check the NHS website and that they'd get a Dr to call her back within 24 hours if they could, the Dr then rang while we were out and frustratingly gave different advice than the NHS website. Nothing we can do now we'll just avoid her and other adults until she's fine now that I know it's possible although unlikely to catch it twice!
@PuttingDownRoots I thought that, or an early dose of antivirals. I might get her to ring the her doctor in the morning and see if he suggests anything or if she should just wait and see!

Shingles usually occurs when someone who has had chickenpox at an earlier point in their lives is run down. It cannot be caught from chickenpox. However, chickenpox can be caught from shingles. My second son had shingles when he was only six and our daughter, who was three at the time, caught chickenpox from it as she had not had it before. I have occasionally known people who have had chickenpox twice but it is very uncommon. Having said that, why take the chance? Last year a pupil’s mother emailed me to say that her child had a very mild case of chickenpox and would l be happy with them to come to their lesson as usual - a first in nearly forty years of teaching. Despite the fact that l have had both chickenpox and shingles so the chances of me catching anything were vanishingly small, I replied with it would be better for them to stay at home. I really did not want the germs in my house.