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shingles/chicken pox

littlemissylittlemissy Posts: 9,972 Supreme Poster
in Health & Wellbeing
i work in a nursery and one of the little angels has fallen ill. with chicken pox. we did not know at the time she was most contagious (before the spots) as she seemed fine. she was a bit clingy to the adults but that is normal. she was in nursery wed, thur, fri and apparently on friday night lots of spots came up (poor girl)

now, i have already had the chicken pox (i had them when i was 7) but i know that there is a risk of shingles and you are able to get the chicken pox again. however, if you get them as an adult then they are worse.

has anyone ever experienced this? has anyone had the shingles before? i get so confused with them all! im not too worried about getting either/or. if i do then i do, not alot i can do about it now. just wondering if any of you have experienced it as an adult or had shingles. more for curiousity (and wondering how bad it can actually get!)

:)

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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I didn't think you could get it as an adult if you had chicken pox as a child. Learn something new everyday. Sorry not help there.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Tweety
    I didn't think you could get it as an adult if you had chicken pox as a child.

    i thought the same. when we were little, and my brother had chicken pox, they tried to infect all of us, cause they said the younger you are, the easier you recover, and you will become immune...

    my grandad had shingles and was quite poorly with it, but he never had chicken pox as a kid, so i don't know...
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Chickenpox is very common in children, and usually only causes mild illness. Once someone has had chickenpox, they are immune to further infection. However, the varicella zoster virus which causes chickenpox remains in the body for life.

    Taken from here
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Tweety
    I didn't think you could get it as an adult if you had chicken pox as a child.

    I didnt either :confused:
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    littlemissylittlemissy Posts: 9,972 Supreme Poster
    apparently you can! we have been told to be very careful. my old teacher at school had it 6 or 7 times and a couple of those were while she was an adult :)
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by littlemissy
    apparently you can! we have been told to be very careful. my old teacher at school had it 6 or 7 times and a couple of those were while she was an adult :)

    That makes bupas website crap then, shocking. Hope you don't get it.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't think once you've had chicken pox you can get it again, but you are at risk of shingles which comes from the same virus (I think anyway), and you can get that more than once.

    I had shingles a few years back, it's a little rash that pops up in places, and mine was itchy - thats contagious and can cause chicken pox if you've never had it.

    My shingles was just itchy, but it can make you really ill.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You cannot get the chicken pox more than once. Whoever told you you can is talking shite, sorry.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    see, my understanding of the comment from the bupa site is that you can only catch it once, but the virus can flare up again - in a similar way to cold sores.

    littlemissy - maybe your teacher kept having flare-ups, and mistook it for seperate incidents?
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You can't have chicken pox more than once but you can get shingles but you have to be susceptible to shingles.

    You don't get shingles from people with chicken pox though, it is just something that reoccurs within your own body.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    erm from what i understand you can only get chicken pox once in your lifetime but shingles can come back over and over. However you cant get shingles till you have had chicken pox. Thats what i was told by my doctor!

    I had shingles when i was in first year of secondary school (i think it was then anyways) and they were absolute murder! Its an infection of the nerve ends which cause them to become inflamed. My must of been an extremely bad case because the pain i was in at the time was excruciating and i now have several small scars- only three of which are really noticeable as sort of white very slightyl raised blobs!!

    Hope you dont get it its awful!!
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well, my Mum had chickenpox as a child, but when us kids got it she got it again. Only very mildly, but she definitely had chickenpox. Apparently it is unusual but possible.

    I thought shingles was more something that elderly people get.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i had chicken pox when i was 7 and got them again about 2 yrs ago.i now have some scars from them.you can get chicken pox again as an adult,but only if you are around the child that has them all time,and hardly ever at that.i was around my lil sis and had to share a room with her while she had them because she was going through her there is monsters under my bed phase. i did not get them that bad though.it itched a little but i put hydrocortizone cream on it and went away.you will more than likely not get it though;)
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by BumbleBee
    You cannot get the chicken pox more than once. Whoever told you you can is talking shite, sorry.
    yes you can. usually you only get it once though but it is possible to get it twice, especially if the first time was mild. My friends little girl got it twice - hows that for bad luck!

    Youre unlikely to get shingles unless youre already really run down, recovering from another illness or have a reduced immune system. Most people who have already had chicken pox are fine to be in contact with it again.
    The little girl wont be contagious at all 5 days after the spots first come out.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by rainbow brite
    yes you can. usually you only get it once though but it is possible to get it twice, especially if the first time was mild. My friends little girl got it twice - hows that for bad luck!

    Well I'd better get my employers to do some extra training then as they were the ones who told me you can't.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by BumbleBee
    Well I'd better get my employers to do some extra training then as they were the ones who told me you can't.
    its a common misconception, I wouldnt worry about it. Most people wont get it twice, but it is possible and does happen. I dont think it really requires anyone to get extra training, but if the subject crops up, then obviously there is no harm in putting them straight.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by rainbow brite
    its a common misconception, I wouldnt worry about it. Most people wont get it twice, but it is possible and does happen. I dont think it really requires anyone to get extra training, but if the subject crops up, then obviously there is no harm in putting them straight.

    Yeah, they're GPs.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The thing is Bumblebee, that although a lot of people including doctors insist you can only catch it once. There is evidence that some people do catch it a second time, especially if the first case was particularly mild, or if the person has a compromised immune system.
    You can say something is 100% true, but then if ANY evidence comes about to the contrary, then its not 100% true anymore is it?
    You cant just dismiss what real people experience themselves and with their children, just because `a doctor said it so it must be true`. Your doctor is right that usually people only get it once, but is not right to say it has never happened nor will ever happen.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've been told that sometimes cases of other skin conditions are wrongly diagnosed as chicken pox either the 'first' or 'second' time around.
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    Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by BumbleBee
    Yeah, they're GPs.

    Doesn't surprise me.

    They would work on statistical probability and it's rare enough to say that it doesn't happen.

    @ littlemiss. I presume that the nursey has warned the other parents that there is an outbreak? The pox is contagious until the spots have scabbed so they need to be warned that their child may have been exposed to the virus. No-one had to say from where.

    It's just a case of letting the parents be prepared. Get come calomine cream in etc...
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