can u get shingles if you haven't had chickenpox?
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This is a bit of a trick question. You can only get shingles if you've already had chickenpox. Shingles can develop in anyone who has had chickenpox. If you haven't had chickenpox but are exposed to someone with chickenpox or shingles, regardless of your age, you will develop chickenpox first.
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Various Virus Thoughts Magnet: Shingles is caused by the chickenpox virus. I do not understand why having chickenpox when younger does not provide immunity to shingles later. Measles is also a virus, but once you have measles, you are immune.
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Shingles occurs in people who have already had chickenpox, usually many years later. Shingles is very contagious. You can catch chickenpox from someone with shingles through contact with their secretions or their skin rash.
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The blisters that develop as a result of shingles contain virus particles. If you have not had chickenpox before, you can catch it from direct contact with the fluid from the blisters of someone who has shingles, or from something that has the fluid on it, such as bed sheets or a towel.
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It's fine to have the shingles vaccine if you've already had shingles. The shingles vaccine works very well in people who have had shingles before and it will boost your immunity against further shingles attacks.
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It shows your level of chickenpox immunity. But if you're 50 or older, you can and should get the new shingles vaccine, Shingrix, whether or not you remember getting chickenpox in childhood.
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If you had chickenpox as a child, you may not get it again in your adulthood, but you are still at the risk of getting shingles. Shingles is more than just adult chickenpox.
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Do I still need the shingles vaccine if I've never had chickenpox? Yes, you do. Shingrix recommended for everyone age 50 and older, whether or not you remember having had chickenpox, because most people have been exposed to the virus.
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If you have already had chickenpox, it's extremely unlikely that you'll get it again. But women who have come into contact with someone with chickenpox or shingles should see their GP if a rash develops.
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Most people who have had chickenpox will be immune to the disease for the rest of their lives. However, the virus remains inactive in nerve tissue and may reactivate later in life causing shingles.
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Anyone who's had chickenpox may develop shingles. After you recover from chickenpox, the virus can enter your nervous system and lie dormant for years. Eventually, it may reactivate and travel along nerve pathways to your skin — producing shingles.
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After a person recovers from chickenpox, the virus stays dormant (inactive) in the body. It can reactivate years later and cause shingles. If you had Zostavax in the recent past, you should wait at least eight weeks before getting Shingrix. Talk to your healthcare provider to determine the best time to get Shingrix.
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How common is shingles? About one out of every three people in the United States who have had chickenpox will get shingles. More than one million cases of shingles are diagnosed every year. The risk of shingles increases as you get older, with about half the cases occurring in men and women ages 50 and older.
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If you haven't had chickenpox or been vaccinated against chickenpox, you can get the virus from contact with someone who has shingles blisters. The virus doesn't spread after the blisters have formed crusty scabs.
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It's caused by nerve damage left behind by a case of shingles. Shingles itself comes from reactivation of a chickenpox virus, varicella zoster. The virus travels down nerve fibers to cause a painful skin rash. When the rash goes away, the pain usually goes with it.
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What is shingles, and how is it different from chicken pox? Shingles, also known as zoster or herpes zoster, is a painful skin rash caused by the same virus responsible for chicken pox: the varicella zoster virus. Even if you had chicken pox in the past, you can still contract shingles.
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But, not everyone who's had chickenpox will develop shingles. The reason for shingles is unclear. But it may be due to lowered immunity to infections as you grow older. Shingles is more common in older adults and in people who have weakened immune systems.