My 3 year old brother has the chickenpox. Ive already had them, but can i still carry the virus, and give it to people that havnt had them?
2007-02-20 10:48:39 · 5 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Skin Conditions
yes, in fact in can reside in you for years in resurface later in the form of shingles. you can't give it to other people later though.
2007-02-20 10:51:14 · answer #1 · answered by KOI 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes. Chickenpox is caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV). Kids can be protected from VZV by getting the chickenpox vaccine, usually between the ages of 12 to 18 months, though sometimes the vaccine is given to older kids, teens, and adults.
A person usually has only one episode of chickenpox, but VZV can lie dormant within the body and cause a different type of skin eruption later in life called shingles (or herpes zoster). Getting the chickenpox vaccine significantly lowers your child's chances of getting chickenpox, but he or she may still develop shingles later.
Anyone who has had chickenpox (or the chickenpox vaccine) as a child is at risk for developing shingles later in life, and up to 20% do. After an infection, VZV can remain inactive in nerve cells near the spinal cord and reactivate later as shingles, which can cause tingling, itching, or pain followed by a rash with red bumps and blisters. Shingles is sometimes treated with antiviral drugs, steroids, and pain medications, and in May 2006 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a vaccine to prevent shingles in people 60 and older.
Chickenpox is very contagious — most kids with a sibling who's been infected will get it as well, showing symptoms about 2 weeks after the first child does. To help keep the virus from spreading, make sure your kids wash their hands frequently, particularly before eating and after using the bathroom. And keep a child with chickenpox away from unvaccinated siblings as much as possible.
People who haven't had chickenpox also can catch it from someone with shingles, but they cannot catch shingles itself. That's because shingles can only develop from a reactivation of VZV in someone who has previously had chickenpox
2007-02-20 11:14:33 · answer #2 · answered by Pramod 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
you do carry them, dormant.
shingles sometimes come on later in life, it's the same virus.
2007-02-20 10:56:19 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
nope.
2007-02-20 10:51:20 · answer #4 · answered by Just Ryan! 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
no
2007-02-20 10:56:17 · answer #5 · answered by oo 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋