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You do not get shingles without first getting the chicken pox.
You can't get shingles from someone. You only get shingles if you've had chickenpox in the past. If you have direct contact with shingles lesions, you could get chickenpox.
Wiki User
∙ 9y ago
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoIf you never had chicken pox, and touch a person's open sores or have direct contact with saliva (including unprotected sneezing), you would get chicken pox, not shingles.
Chicken pox is a one-time illness, usually in childhood. It does not matter how "mild" or "bad" the chicken pox is. The body's defenses are activated whether "mild" or "bad" and immunity results. No person acquires chicken pox twice.
Shingles is caused by the same virus but with shingles, the virus is re-activated within the person's own body (not from catching the chicken pox virus from someone else). A person who never had chicken pox cannot get shingles; but that person who never had chicken pox can get chicken pox.
A person who has shingles can infect others with chicken pox, but only if those persons (usually children) never had chicken pox before. If a person with shingles is around a person/child who already had chicken pox, the other people won't get chicken pox or shingles.
The defining factors in shingles are:
- The person already had chicken pox
- The person is generally over 50 years old
- The person may also have a compromised immune system
Wiki User
∙ 13y agoChicken pox typically infects children during grade school. Once a child has had chicken pox, they grow up with immunity to the virus that causes chicken pox. In other words, once a child has had it, that person does not get chicken pox again. However, the virus that causes chicken pox will be in the body for the rest of the person's life. It does not re-infect the person, though, with chicken pox. Also, just because all persons who had chicken pox have the virus in the body does not mean they can infect anyone with chicken pox--they can't.
However, all persons who are over 50 years old (generally this age group or older) who had chicken pox when they were children have an increased risk of developing a condition called shingles. Doctors do not understand completely why the chicken pox virus re-activates in older years. They suspect stress or being immuno-compromised creates a chance for the shingles virus to activate and make the person ill.
Shingles follows the pathway of a nerve. It often develops around the belly, under the waist band, but it can occur in other body areas, including in the eyes. Sores like in chicken pox develop, and will ooze then crust over.
*If a person never had chicken pox before, they can be infected by someone with shingles. However, it is very unlikely for an otherwise healthy adult under 50 years old would develop shingles from a chicken with an active case of chicken pox.Age, history of chicken pox, immune status, and other factors seem to combine to trigger the virus in older adults who then develop shingles.
If an adult never had chicken pox during their lifetimes, they can be at risk of acquiring chicken pox from an infected child if contact is made with the oozing liquid (before crusts form).
Since most parents have had chicken pox when they were children, luckily parents typically do not get ill from taking care of a child with an active infection. But, all children within a family or school may become infected.
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Can you get shingles from lying in a bed after someone else who had shingles say in a hospital?
Shingles is caused by the chickenpox virus. You do not get shingles from someone with shingles; you get chickenpox from someone with shingles. Then when you get older, you will get shingles because you had chickenpox. Or, you might get older and never get chickenpox. In that case, you will thank your mother for having you vaccinated against chickenpox when you were a child.
Can you get shingles from someone if you have had chickenpox?
No, it is not.
You have idiopathic urticaria can you get shingles from someone with chickenpox?
You can't get shingles from someone with chickenpox, whatever your other medical conditions. You only get shingles from reactivation of your own prior infection with chickenpox virus.
How likely are you to get chickenpox from someone with shingles if you have not had chickenpox?
You could get chicken pox if you have never had it before. However, while your chances of getting chicken pox from someone with shingles is in the realm of possibility, you will rarely come across someone with shingles, since they are mostly home with the illness.
Can shingles or chickenpox be transferred by a third party?
Shingles and chickenpox can only be transferred by someone who is infected.
Can you get shingles from someone sitting next to you?
You can get chickenpox, but not shingles, from someone with shingles. You can only get chickenpox from someone with shingles if you haven't had chickenpox or the vaccine before, and if you have direct contact with wet shingles blisters or sores.
Are shingles catchy?
No. You can however catch chickenpox from the shingles if you've never had them before. The shingles themselves come from a dormant chickenpox virus in your skin tissue.
Can you get shingles from someone if you already had chickenpox?
First, you can't "catch shingles" from someone. You can get chickenpox from someone who has shingles, but only if two things are true:You have direct contact with the weeping shingles lesions; ANDYou have not had chickenpox or chickenpox vaccine in the past.You can't get chickenpox from someone with shingles if you are immune. You can't get it from being in the same room with them, either. A person with shingles can go about normal activities, including all work or school, as long as the lesions are covered.
Can you get chickenpox from someone who has shingles?
Yes, it is possible for someone to get chickenpox from a person who has shingles, but it's not easy. You can only get chickenpox from someone with shingles if you come in direct skin-to-skin contact with wet or weeping lesions. Once the lesions are crusted over, you can't get it. Since you haven't had chickenpox, which is the same virus as shingles (that you've now been exposed to), you'll probably end up with chickenpox.
Can one pimple be shingles?
No. You only get shingles's if you have had chickenpox. No chickenpox no shingles's.
Is it possible to get chickenpox from some one who has shingles when you have only had shingles at a young age and not chickenpox?
First, you can't get shingles at any age unless you have previously had chickenpox. Although your chickenpox illness may have been so mild that you didn't notice, a diagnosis of shingles is proof that you had chickenpox. Second, only those who have never had chickenpox can get chickenpox from shingles. Third, shingles is only contagious through direct contact with wet lesions, and is not likely to be spread through casual contact.
Can you get chickenpox from talking to someone with shingles?
Facial herpes, or cold sores, is caused by herpes simplex virus. Chickenpox is caused by varicella zoster virus. You can't get chickenpox from someone with facial herpes unless they also have chickenpox.
