Could my son's chicken pox cause my mum to have another shingles attack?

[krang]

Help. We are going on holiday with my mum and dad in ten days and my son has a temperature - one of his little friends has just had chickenpox. My mum had a really nasty attack of shingles a few years ago and although I know that the two are related, I can't find any information on whether my son's chicken pox could cause my mum to get shingles again. Does anyone have any idea??

No. Shingles can not be 'caught' - you have it in your nervous system when you've had the chickenpox virus, and it can come out as shingles if you get run down. You can't catch shingles from someone with chickenpox, but you can catch chickenpox from someone with shingles.

As tortoiseshell says, your mother would be in no danger as shingles cannot be caught from chicken pox.

As they said but she might believe you, lots of people get this confused. Shingles is a reactivation of dormant virus, iyswim.

No, in fact exposure to the virus could prevent her getting shingles in the future.

Aaargh, she's CONVINCED that she can get it from him.

Thanks so much for the help. I don't suppose anyone knows of any web sources that say the same, so I can try and convince her? Have looked on NHS Direct but can't find anything...

here?