Pregnant and around someone with Shingles?

[craftykix]

Hi! I don't usually post here, but am looking for wisdom. I have a very good friend who suffers from chronic shingles. Now that I am pregnant I have been trying to research the topic and see if I have reason to be concerned. I had chicken pox as a child.

I have read that you are immune if you have had chicken pox, but also that you can still catch it regardless. Is it only contagious if she has wound flare ups?

At my next appt I will see if I can get a blood test to test immunization. Does anyone have experience in this?

[tngrl3]

Here is a great article with some basic facts from the National Institue of Health.
www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/shingles.html
You can only get shingles if you have had the chicken pox. Having chicken pox does not make you immune. It also spread from direct contact with the lesions not through the air. I worked with a few patients who had shingles when I was pregnant with DS and was just extra careful. I had no issues.

[xcrissx]

My mom had shingles when I was pg with DS. The doctor wasn't concerned because I had had chicken pox as a child and I think the fear was me catching chicken pox- not shingles.

Recurring episodes sounds awful! I didn't know that happened.

[craftykix]

thanks for the feedback!

xcrissx it is awful she has an auto-immune disease, so it is tough for her body to overcome it. She has had it regularly for 5 years now

[chriskoo]

I have to work in close contact with patients with shingles on a regular basis, so I asked my doc about this at my first appointment. She said that although you can catch chickenpox from someone with active shingles, since I'm immune to chickenpox I and my baby would be fine.

It's true that you can only get shingles after having chickenpox because its a reactivation of the same virus, but It's not contagious by contact. The dormant virus activates in times of stress or if the immune system is compromised.