Shingles and cruising???

Our daughter-in-law just came down with shingles 8 days prior to our cruise. She's seen the doc, has the prescriptions, etc...but has anyone had this happen?

I had shingles twice last year. The doctor gave me meds and told me to keep the affected area covered well. The only way shingles is contagious is if someone comes in contact with the active rash. It's especially dangerous to children and elderly who have not had chicken pox or the vaccine. I was told to stay home for 4 days until the meds started drying the rash up. Worst part for me was the pain and both times my rash area was small. What did the doctor recommend?

The rash can be contagious for almost two weeks even with antibiotics.

The rash can be contagious for almost two weeks even with antibiotics.

Hope you mean antivirals...

I've had shingles. Can't imagine cruising. Go with what the doc says.

http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/about/transmission.html

Shingles can only be transmitted to people who have never had chicken pox or been vaccinated. As noted above, there are no antibiotics for shingles, only antivirals, and they only hope to shorten the a outbreak, not cure it. EM

I got chicken pox as a teen from my sister who had shingles. It is transmissible.

Would worry about the crew as even if she keeps the rash well covered, the rash will come in contact with sheets, towels, etc which are handled by crew as she will still be contagious based on what has been said.

As a retired Public Health Nurse, you need to contact HAL asap. I know we recommend isolation of patients who have shingles. Your cruise may need to be rescheduled depending on HAL's policies.

http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/about/transmission.html

 

Shingles can only be transmitted to people who have never had chicken pox or been vaccinated. As noted above, there are no antibiotics for shingles, only antivirals, and they only hope to shorten the a outbreak, not cure it. EM

Since people who have had chicken pox are vulnerable to getting shingles (the virus remains domant in their systems), how can shingles not be transmitted to some who has had chicken pox?

Having had shingles and having suffered from it in considerable pain for about a month, I suspect your daughter-in-law would prefer to stay home.

Yes, we're well-aware of her not going if it's not crusted over by then (a week from now...she's had it for a few days.)

Don't worry, we won't have her subject anyone to any possibility. We're hoping that the fact she's had it before means this will be a bit less of an attack...so it's day by day. The rest of the family will go (Our WHOLE family is going for our 50th anniversary celebration)...including her DH and kids...so we are all hoping she is well enough (and NOT in a contagious stage...)

Day to day....(we have trip insurance, so that won't be a problem...just not knowing how she'll feel/be by next Friday.)

Will her cruise insurance pay if she cancels forf medical reaaon? her doctor likely would agree to her eancelling.

People who hve had chicken pox are the ones who ,later in life may getshingles. The shot is not fool proof protection

Yes, no problem with insurance paying...and this is her second bout with shingles, so we're hoping they crust over fast (in the crust stage are not contagious) and that she feels OK. So far, she's not in much pain. Supposedly each subsequent bout is less virulent than the previous one...time will tell.

Having seen my mother suffer from shingles for many years, DW and I had the shingles vaccine (Zostavax) as soon as it became available in the hope that it will prevent us from contracting this painful viral disease. Having experienced it previously, your DIL is in the best position to judge whether she would rather be cruising or recovering at home. Either way, I wish her a speedy recovery.

I came down with a very mild bout of shingles while doing a S.A. cruise. It affected only the mandibular nerve around the jaw area . Doc gave me antivirals and anti-inflammatories. Discomfort really very minimal, fortunately. I wasn't put in isolation and it had no real impact on my enjoyment of the cruise. One year later I had the shingles shot, as recommended. No subsequent occurrence.

Highly contagious ... I would seek more advice. My grandfather had it and had to be isolated, he was so sick with it and affected him for years afterwards. Please consider carefully exposing others to this. I hope your dil recovers well.

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PLEASE don't bother responding with info you don't know is true. I appreciate the concern/comments from those who have had them close to travel time, which is what I wanted.

Shingles is NOT highly contagious except in the pustule stage and then only to people who have never had chicken pox. Once dried, it is not contagious.

From the CDC: "Shingles cannot be passed from one person to another. However, the virus that causes shingles, the varicella zoster virus, can be spread from a person with active shingles to another person who has never had chickenpox. In such cases, the person exposed to the virus might develop chickenpox, but they would not develop shingles.

The virus is spread through direct contact with fluid from the rash blisters caused by shingles.

A person with active shingles can spread the virus when the rash is in the blister-phase. A person is not infectious before the blisters appear. Once the rash has developed crusts, the person is no longer contagious."

Well I am telling you what our personal experience was. My gf almost died from it and we certainly didn't know how he contracted it, unlikely he had fluid contact with someone.

If you don't want different answers from different people don't post on a public forum, if you only want the answers you like talk to a mirror.

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PLEASE don't bother responding with info you don't know is true. I appreciate the concern/comments from those who have had them close to travel time, which is what I wanted.

 

Shingles is NOT highly contagious except in the pustule stage and then only to people who have never had chicken pox. Once dried, it is not contagious.

 

From the CDC: "Shingles cannot be passed from one person to another. However, the virus that causes shingles, the varicella zoster virus, can be spread from a person with active shingles to another person who has never had chickenpox. In such cases, the person exposed to the virus might develop chickenpox, but they would not develop shingles.

 

The virus is spread through direct contact with fluid from the rash blisters caused by shingles.

 

A person with active shingles can spread the virus when the rash is in the blister-phase. A person is not infectious before the blisters appear. Once the rash has developed crusts, the person is no longer contagious."

This is good info. Thanks for posting. I hope all goes well for your cruise.

Team flames: Shingles is NOT caught from someone with shingles (if you read the CDC blurb)....you can get shingles only IF you had chickenpox at some point in your life. Shingles is a reappearance of that virus. Your grandfather was very sick, I'm sure...like my grandmother was too (over a year) but they didn't have access to the anti-viral medication that recently was shown to help it. We are hoping our DIL will get a quick recovery because of it to the point she is able to go with us. She will have visible scabs, so was interested if anyone else has had that experience.

Not cruise related but maybe helpful. My daughter has had the varicella vaccine followed a few years later by chicken pox and then shingles (twice) all before 9 years old. Her shingles outbreak was pretty severe and covered her chest area. She was put on medication which helped tremendously. Her doctor did not keep her from school. The doctor advised that since the area was completely covered and would not be in contact with anyone at school that everyone would be fine. I made the school aware and no other cases of chicken pox or shingles had been reported. As a side note, my daughter was so young to have been diagnosed with chicken pox/shingles/shingles and having had the varicella vaccine that they asked for permission to send her info to the CDC for research.

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I had a very light case of shingles just prior to a cruise. The doctor gave me antiviral RX, and I went on the cruise.....no problem. I did not take the shingles vaccine a year later, because my PCP said it only gave you 50% less chance of getting it again. This was about ten years ago, I think. No shingles since...mine wasn't painful at all, just a small rash on my back.

My mom had an extremely painful case, which affected her nerve with pain until she died three years later.

Everyone's case is different. Hopefully, your daughter is able to cruise with the family. Congratulations on your anniversary!:)

I know a lot about shingles from personal experience and that of my daughter who had shingles at age 28.

Shingles is reactivation of the chicken pox virus that remains in your body indefinitely. It is not contagious as long as pustules, vesicles have dried up. They dry up within a few days of starting an antiviral medication. Once dried you will not spread the virus, period. The skin lesions can last for weeks or months but if they dry you will not spread the virus.

I've previously investigated this issue in the medical literature and with physicians.

The vaccine is 51 to 90 per cent effective at preventing shingles and the vaccine will lessen the severity if you get shingles anyway.

You can get shingles more than once and the younger you are the more likely you will have a recurrence.

It is usual to have recurrences of shingles.

Some people do get posttherpetic neuraglia over and over again. Generally just the recurrence of the pain and itchiness.

I got shingles many years ago a couple of days before we were to go on a vacation -- not a cruise. It was bad!!

I had never had chicken pox (or measles or mumps) -- but I still got it.

There were not a lot of medications available back in the 80's.

Doctor told me to stay home -- no vacation. We lost a lot of money as we did not have insurance.

Hope your daughter-in-law can make the cruise.

Prayers for her.

Yes, no problem with insurance paying...and this is her second bout with shingles, so we're hoping they crust over fast (in the crust stage are not contagious) and that she feels OK. So far, she's not in much pain. Supposedly each subsequent bout is less virulent than the previous one...time will tell.

I had shingles at 33, exactly one day of pain. Thirty years later, my doctor said not to bother to have the shingles shot. A few months later, shingles again, and the pain was 10 on a scale of 1-10. I was in agony for over a month. I did get the shot after that. Hoping your DIL is better soon!