Ask the Doctor: ‘Can a child with chickenpox spread shingles to elderly family members?’

“Over the past few days it has become apparent that chicken pox is going around my son’s creche. We have a big birthday coming up for his 80-year-old grandmother and are hosting a family party. All the family has had chicken pox, but I am worried about shingles. Is it true that if a child is carrying chicken pox he can spread shingles to elderly family members? Should I postpone the party? I do not want to risk my parent’s health by having them around him if he could pass on shingles.

The shingles rash usually appears in a band or belt-like pattern, which gave the Latin word “cingulum”, meaning belt or girdle, from which the modern term shingles is derived. Shingles is especially common in adults over the age of 50, with 1 in 5 people developing it over a lifetime.

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