Can You Get Chicken Pox from Someone Who Has Shingles?

Shingles is a potentially very painful skin condition that people develop only after they have had chicken pox at some point in their lives. Shingles is contagious in certain scenarios and those that have this malady should exercise caution when they are around others.

Varicella-Roster

A virus known as the varicella-zoster virus is responsible for precipitating chicken pox. Once chicken pox passes, the virus goes into a sort of suspended animation state within a person's nervous system, where it can lie dormant for many years before becoming active and causing shingles.

Identification

Some of the symptoms of shingles include intense pain, blisters that open up and ooze, fever, numbness and a rash. The reason shingles flare up in some people is not clear, but many researches link it to a person's immune system weakening as they age, according to the Mayo Clinic website.

Effects

Although an individual with shingles cannot transmit shingles to another person, he does have the ability to pass on the virus to those people who have yet to experience chicken pox. In such cases, the infected person can acquire chicken pox, but they will not get shingles from this interaction.

Warning

People who have shingles should take special care to keep away from people with compromised immune systems who have not had chicken pox as well as pregnant women and newborn babies.

Time Frame

A patient with shingles will remain contagious until the characteristic blisters that accompany the ailment scab over completely.

References

• Mayo Clinic.com:Shingles