Hi everyone, seems like my little brother has the chicken pox.
I already have got these as a baby but I have heard you can still get thesame/alike form but called shingles?
I am a bit concerned now as I am also taking steroids but makes me even higher at risk to catch things like this.
And it's a little hard to avoid contact as it's my brother.
Any tips to protect myself better?As I'm not sure how chicken pox spreads itself.
You are at slightly higher risk due to the steroids.....there is probably little one can do since Varicella lives in our nerve roots until it decides to come out again as Shingles. It is exactly the same virus. Wah hands well and maybe just keep a reasonable distance.
I had a teen child come down with Shingles when I was on steroids. (I question her diagnosis to be honest).
I have no idea why she got Shingles! I was OK, and did not have a reappearance of the Varicella, as either chicken pox or Shingles.
Thanks Inga, hopefully I won't get either one of them.But I think they last two weeks or so?
Well I am calling my Rheumy on monday just to make sure as I am flaring kind of badly already now got very swollen ankles and hands, just want to be safe.And mom will let Gp know about this.So hopefully it will be ok.Thank you again.:)
Hi :)
I know you can't develop shingles unless you have had chickenpox at some point. I think shingles can happen whether you are re-exposed to the virus or not. People can develop shingles without being near anyone with the pox. The chickenpox virus remains dormant and can break out again as shingles.
Take care - Scottie :)
I called my doc too, when I was exposed, and no one seemed to be able to give me a reasonable answer.
I too, was under the understanding that Shingles is NOT something that you get exposed to.
Once you have Varicella, you have the virus that causes Shingles in you. Interestingly, you can catch Chix Pox from Shingles if you have not had Chix Pox before. Shingles is a reactivation of Varicella that you already have. Just in case, viral load has anything to do with it, I would just be slightly more careful...but, don't fret about it. It is highly unlikely that your Varicella will activate itself in response to getting additional exposure.
I was taking Imuran when my second son received his first chicken pox vaccine. After the fact, I thought to ask them if it was live modified or killed vaccine. Turns out that they had given him the live vaccine. I called my rheumy and as immediately put on antiviral medication. I think it was the same drug they use to treat herpes or something like it anyway. You may ask your rheumy if he/she thinks it might be wise to take a course of antivirals, just to be safe. I will add though that I was significantly immune suppressed from the Imuran. I don't think Prednisone would be as high a risk, but there is always the issue that our immune systems do not work properly to begin with. Well, I never got shingles from that exposure and I had had chicken pox as a kid. They told me the virus was shed in the baby's stool and that I should try to get someone else to change his diapers. HAH! Like that would ever happen. Anyway, hope this helps and it's always a good idea to wash your hands and use lots of hand sanitizer. I have little bottles of it all over my house and use it constantly when anyone in the house is sick. Best of luck to you. Jennifer
Thank you so much for your help everyone!
Shani, We can give you all this info, but your doctor is the one who knows your condition.
Bottom line: Chicken pox is spread by contact with the drainage from the oozing pustules. Avoid using the same bath towels and other items. I always bleached my towels when there was infections spread by drainage. I always figured that towels were a really good mode of transmission. Make sure to have your own towels.
You can get chicken pox again. Why has always been hard for me to understand.
Yes, you can get chicken pox from shingles. FIL had the shingles and didn't know it and was wearing bib overalls without a shirt. He held my 18 month old son annd 2 weeks later this kid had a really terrible case of pox. He should have been in the hospital when I look back on it. He had "chickies" as big as a 50 cent piece on his head and all down his esophagus and his whole back was covered. He just paced all night long.
Also, this same child got the shingles when he was about 8 years old. Took him to the doc who said that there must be something wrong with his immune system and did blood work. Nothing showed up though. My husband always said that nurses kids have more junk---sometimes I agreed with him.
So, make sure to check with your doc about this. Maybe he will put you on an antiviral. It also depends on how bad your brothers pox are and how fast they dry up. One of my kids had a very mild case and was dried up in about 3 days. irish
Thanks Irish, my little brother's back, arms, legs and all are all covered with the rash now and he has got swollen lymph nodes so I think it's not a mild form and might last a week or two.Thank you for the tips aboit the towels.=)
Shani, Please see your doctor.
I was teaching Robotics a few summers ago and one of the children came to class with chickenpox. I found out about a week later. Suddenly I had an out brake on my face and had exposed a second class. I could not teach for almost a month because of the out break. I had a bad case of chicken pox as a child so I did not think I would get it again.
We are typically on immune suppressant drugs and our immune systems are compromised. As I told my students after this "It is more likely that I will get sick from you than you will get sick from me." We have to be more careful. That is one of the reasons that I take the supplements that I do to support my body.
Thank you for your help and response Joe, really made it more clear.
I will go see my Gp monday then.
As I said brother seems to get more rash now which makes it even more risky for me.
We are watching carefully if I am developing anything everyday, just to be sure.
Thanks again, I'll call Rheumy aswell.
I have tests on tuesday: Ct scan of brains and a spinal tap so I really can't be sick.
Good luck with your tests. I hope that you get answers and not head scratching and "I don't knows"
Thanks again Joe.=)My Neuro is doing it to make sure nothing else is going on as I have been having daily headaches again.And she wants to see if there are no signs of inflammations that the Lupus has caused that's why she is doing the spinal tap and so on.