[JUNE B]

Hello All, I am not sure i am posting this in the right place ? Can any one tell me what the danger is of being in contact with someone with shingles, when your on pred or aza i bumped into my brother to day and he informed me he had just been to doctors who thought he may have this, i ran to the other side of the room and made a quick exit!! Thanks for any info regards
june

 

[greenhaggis]

june you cant catch shingles, have you had chiken pox

 

[JUNE B]

june you cant catch shingles, have you had chiken pox

Hi lesley, yes i have had chicken pox as a child, why does it say on info in pred pack to avoid patients with shingles ? love june

 

[Clare.T]

Hello June
I don't know why it says that, except that Pred suppresses the immune system a bit but it might be presuming that the person has never had chickenpox. When all the scabs are formed he won't be contagious or rather infectious because it is an air borne virus. If you have been in contact with him during the last three weeks you will already have been exposed.

Immunosuppressed people might get chickenpox again and also contact with the fluid from shingles might cause chickenpox ( I seem to remember)

Cross your fingers and good Luck
Clare

 

[greenhaggis]

June, according to advice on line:

Shingles is when you have had chicken pox (even a mild dose of one unoticed spot) remains dormat. When you are then exposed to stress to problems with immune system dose the dormat virus re-activate itself in the form of shingles!

Stress, and immune problems can reactivate the dormant chickenpox virus as Shingles!

This is what i was told when I had shingles earlier this year (i had a severe case of chicken pox as a child)!

You can cant catch Shingles from Shingles as it is only a reactivation of the virus (somemthing to do with nerves) called Chickenpox.

I think though you can contract Chickenpox from Shingles!


Just google Shingles! I'm sure the NHS Direct give advice if I remember correctly!
Take care June!

Lesley

 

[sjink]

Hi

My doc told me to see her immediately when I told her my symptoms were like shingles. She was very insistent. It was in fact some weird lupus neuro thing. The antiviral treatment they have to use on immune supressed patients is kept by GPs in case of emergencies and she had it all set up to give me!!

I found this on Patient UK, the website my doc approves of:

If (you are on Prednisilone and) you come into contact with anyone who has measles, shingles or chicken pox (or suspects they might have them) you must see your doctor as soon as possible.

and this on arc.org.uk (arthritis research council site)

"If you have not had chickenpox but come into contact with someone who has chickenpox or shingles, or if you develop chickenpox or shingles, you should report to your doctor immediately as you may need special treatment. This is because chickenpox and shingles can be severe in people on steroid treatment. Therefore you may require antiviral treatment.

I do know that anyone who has had chickenpox can get shingles and if your immune system is wobbly then shingles can develop. So there you go... possibly off to the docs with you just to put your mind at rest I would have thought.

Sara
x

 

[applesauce]

My advice is do whatever they say to avoid shingles even if it seems unreasonable because I had shingles when I was only 12 and man did that ever knock me out of life for several weeks. On summer holiday no less! When your immune system is suppressed you're more susceptable to everything so stay away from any sick friends and ask that they please not sneeze on you.

 

[greenhaggis]

Shingles is apprarently a REACTIVATION of the chickenpox virus (which stays dormant in us if weve had chicken pox) only!

If you have had chickenpox (you are okay), as I said your not supposed to get shingles from shingles ( and should not catch chiken pox again) reactivation of the chickenpox is from stress or immunosuppresive drugs being taken etc (or a symtem supressed with lupus or other auto-immune diseases), it then takes the form of shingles

From all the advice I read and got from specialist when I has Shingles 'i did not catch it' - the virus was dormant in me from the time when i had chicken pox as a child!

Lesley

PS - people that have never had chicken pox can catch it froms shingles if they come into contact with the open pox wounds by touch -its not supposed to be air born shingles.

 

[JUNE B]

Thanks Everyone ! This is very confusing, i think i will just avoid any one sick, if a spot appears, i become ill off to the doctors i will go!! keep well all, love june

 

[Clare.T]

I think that is wise. Can't be too cautious in issues like this!
It is confusing also because there is confusion in some respects, differences of opinion anyway. It's a long time since I studied this question but I seem to remember debate about whether you can get chickenpox twice with most Brits saying you can't and the Americans saying it is possible although rare.


Contact with the fluid from the spots of shingles as well as chickenpox can be contagious. I never read you can get shingles from such contact
I think that the definition of immunosuppressed re Prednisone use is something like > 20mgs a day for any length of time. Many of us are on other meds that suppress the immune system to some extent and of course lupus itself can make us more prone to infection especially if there's a low white blood cell count.
We definitely need to think of ourselves as immunocompromised if not technically immunosuppressed, and do a sensible best to avoid infections and unnecessary exposures.

Is your brother an adult? I feel sorry for him. These childhood diseases really stink when you get them as a grown up. My husband was terribly sick with it and had the pox every conceivable place with some invisible ones too. While his spots are healing he should avoid sunlight because that increases the risk of scarring or so I have read. In the bad old days they used to put a red cloth over the windows when people had 'pox'. This was regarded as mumbo jumbo until it was realised that the red cloth absorbed the infra red which is responsible for scarring.
Did I really read that or did I just make it up.:hehe:
Let us know what the doctor says I hope he doesn't just brush you off.
Hugs
Clare

 

[BigSis]

Hi just to add
Steroids, in reducing inflammation and suppessing the immune response can mask signs of infection.

The herpes virus (chickenpox and shingles) can be nasty and severe infection can occur with a delay in symptoms in this case.
Can cause a severe pnuemonia which is hard to treat or even encephalitis (inflammation of the brain.)