Can an adult with shingles give chicken pox to a child?

[Heavenly]

My dad was diagnosed with shingles today. He has been having the symptoms for over a week though (he's very stubborn about going to the doctor). My son (unvaccinated) is almost 20 months and we stopped by the family business (dad, DH and BIL run it) twice last week and my dad held Elijah for a minute or so each time. He has been around my neice who isn't vaccinated for chicken pox (age 3) a lot more than that in the past week as well. Is it possible that our kidlets our going to get chicken pox? How long would it be until we know?

[peggy]

When my Mom had them she was told that she wouldn't give chicken pox to the kids. I'm not sure it's fact or not. My children had already had the chicken pox.

peggy

[JavaJerri]

I'm not sure if you can give someone chicken pox if you have shingles but.....I do know that I got shingles at the very end of my pregnancy and they were really hoping I wouldn't go into labor and deliver until they were drying up. They kept saying the baby was safer in then out. Maybe this is just true for a newborn, but it did worry me. They did cover them and tape them up while I was delivering. I guess they figured better safe than sorry.

Jerri

[Elijah's Mama]

YES!!!!

Your dad CAN pass on chickenpox to your son and niece. I was just reading about the chicken pox vaccine yesterday, so it was fresh in my mind. According to the book 'What Your Doctor May not Tell You about Children's Vaccinations,' "Because [shingles] blisters contain the chicken pox virus, people with shingles are contagious and can transmit chicken pox to susceptible individuals" (201). It also says that it takes two to three weeks for symptoms to appear once someone is exposed, and that without vaccination, 85-90% of people will get chicken pox.

Sorry, don't mean to alarm you, but I think you should be prepared. I will send positive thoughts your way that your DS and niece will not get sick.

Warmly,
EM

[Els' 3 Ones]

Says here contagious if blisters are broken, with skin to skin contact.

So it is not airbourne like the chicken pox..

http://www.shingles.com/shingles/what/who_gets.jsp

[darlindeliasmom]

that's how dd got the chicken pox! my nephew, who was then 10, took care of her one new years night when I tried to go to a wedding. (He wasn't SUPPOSED to be the primary caregiver; my 17- and 15-y-old nephews were). the kids had a hard time with her missing mommy, and I abandoned ship and came back to find her asleep in the 10-y-old's arms.
well, when he went back to school that week, it was learned that his teacher had shingles. My sis put 2 and 2 together and decided that Pat's "brush burn" on his torso was actually the shingles. A few kids in that class had the virus reactivated by close contact with the teacher.
So dd, since she insisted on falling to sleep on that boy, spared me the lectures on how necessary the chicken pox vaccine is. Good girl! A very mild case of the virus, a few oatmeal baths, no pock marks. Not a bad tradeoff...

[Ani & Cam's Mom]

Yes, they can. When my husband was a kid he got chicken pox from his grandfather who had shingles.

[Heavenly]

Thanks! Well my dad doesn't have any blisters or open sores, the doctor said it is mostly internal, poor guy, he's in a lot of pain! And he's a diabetic with severe arthritis. But the doc told him he's not contagious because no blisters. I guess we'll know in a week or so. The last time both kids were around him was Thursday August 29.