Hi all
I was just wondering if there is any advice on what to do when a family member (in my case my 3 year old son) has chicken pox? I’ve done a search on here with nothing conclusive in terms of whether I should move out for example for a few days.
Currently in MMR (BCR at 0.06) and 2.5 years post dx. I had chicken pox as a kid so am a bit wary of shingles now I’m in my 40’s!
Any help or advice appreciated.
Dan
Shingles is a painful rash that occurs when the dormant chickenpox virus is reactivated, typically due to a weakened T-cell based immune system or other triggering factors
Shingles is not caused by catching a new virus but is a reactivation of the chickenpox virus that has been in the body since the initial infection.
Having CML is not correlated with shingles as shingles is a viral disease impacted by the lymphoid system not myeloid (bacteria fighting).
If anything, your exposure to your son's chicken pox (too late to move out!) is likely to reinforce your T-cell immunity - not give you a new disease as shingles. There are vaccines against shingles with a mixed record.
Hi
It is fairly normal for children to have chicken pox at a younger age and the benefit is that after having been exposed to it they then will not develop it later in life as then it can be complicated.
My story is that my friends son who was 19 who had not been vaccinated against it at an early age developed it and was hospitalized for a period -if one develops it in later life it can be serious.First they thought it was monkey pox such were the size of the lesions and it has left some nasty scarring.He was placed in a Covid ward in isolation with us as visitors having to wear full protection.
However we were told that there was no risk to us because at a young age either I had been vaccinated against it or had been exposed to it in a mild form previously.
Probably there is little risk to yourself especially if you have been exposed to it before at a younger age or if you had been vaccinated against it when younger-even though at present you may be immuno suppressed..
I hope that helps
John
