My daughter discovered a ‘weird’ rash on my grandson today, straight to the doctor and he has diagnosed SHINGLES.
Now I understand that shingles is rare in kids, especially as the grandies have been immunized against chicken-pox, so how on earth would he have contracted it?
And as older people, both myself and my daughter have had chicken pox as kids…should we be belting off to the doc for a shingles immunization?
How old is your grandson, and is he under any unusual stress, including recent illnesses? Is he on prednisone or any other kind of steroid?
My oldest daughter had shingles as a 9yo. She was pretty miserable. She had a steroid shot for a bad bronchitis infection.
He’s 8, no stress apart from the usual 8yr old stress (being banned from playing Minecraft when he hasn’t cleaned his room etc). No pred, no other illnesses…he feels just FINE. Except for the pustules on the back of his head 
Of course, he is overjoyed about not being allowed to go to school for the next week (at least). I predict by Tuesday afternoon he’ll be bored shitless and BEGGING to go back.
Was that in the days before they developed an immunization for chicken pox??
No, she had the shot. Her rash was on her left side. Doctor said that didn’t matter, because once the virus is in you it’s forever dormant somewhere.
Your son has a rash on his head watch and be careful of it getting around close to his ear or face. It’s dangerous on your face. Have they given him anything?
Nope…we’ve covered the lesions as a precaution, just so he doesn’t touch them and then transfer the virus somewhere else.
No antivirals were prescribed
Yea, I don’t think antiviral drugs do anything for shingles. IANAD, so what do I know?
As an adult I had shingles and they were the most painful thing I ever experienced before or since. How is you son coping with the pain?
Grandson, no pain or itching or anything else. As far as he is concerned it’s the BEST THING EVAH because he has a week off school.
They administer IV antivirals if the shingles are near your eye. This is, in my experience, done as an in-patient in a hospital.
I was given oral antivirals when I had shingles a few years ago. I had the shingles on my back around my waist, and I think the meds helped. I had chicken pox as a child in the 60’s, before there was a vaccine.
So…if you’ve had the immunisation the virus is dormant n your body just as if you’ve had the chicken pox and you can still get shingles? huh. never occurred to me that would happen.
That’s how I understand it. Even if you had chicken pox or had a vaccine it is still in your body. Shingles is a cruel mistress. I have developed post-herpatic pain, some days it is debilitating. I take Lyrica. And tramadol if it’s real bad.
Shingles ruined the last five years of my grandmother’s life. She was in so much pain; had them on the bottom of her feet. My mom had it on her face a few years ago. When I turned 50 my doc asked me if I wanted the shingles vaccine, I said “hell yes”
My youngest grew up before the vaccine, got the chicken pox and then, in HS, shingles. It was just a few spots and never amounted to much. My wife and I, both of whom had the pox, have gotten the vaccine.
I understand that there’s a new, more effective shingles vaccine. I’ve had the other vaccine (after getting shingles in my 40’s) and I’m going to get the new one, too.
IANAD but my understanding is that you can only get shingles from the viruses that have been lying dormant inside your own body. You can’t catch shingles from your grandson’s shingles, nor can his shingles trigger your dormant viruses to become active. Nevertheless, it may still be appropriate for you to get a shingles vaccine, depending on your age. The vaccine is approved for people over the age of 50 and recommended for almost everyone over the age of 60.
It doesn’t apply to you and your daughter but it is possible to catch chicken pox (if one has never had it before and never been immunized) from a person with open shingles blisters.
Whether or not you should get the shingles vaccine depends on your age. I got the vaccine at age 57 because my docs recommended it. (I have lupus.) However, researchers disagree about whether the vaccine’s effectiveness for people aged 50-60 is worth the cost: about $200, and some insurance companies won’t cover it. Mine didn’t.
The vaccine is most effective for people over 60. As someone who had severe (and incredibly painful) chicken pox at age 27, and whose mom got shingles in her 70s, I strongly recommend the vaccine for anyone 60 or over. Doc told me it halves the odds of getting shingles, and people who do get it get a milder case.
I just read that 2% of kids who get the chicken pox vaccine get chicken pox anyway, but it’s such a mild case, parents may not recognize it as chicken pox. Maybe that’s what happened with your grandson? I hope the poor little guy feels better soon!
Thanks for all the information folks, but I’m still puzzled as to how he contracted it! At this stage it’s just a small patch of lesions at the back of his head (under the hairline) and he isn’t complaining of any pain or discomfort. Fingers crossed it stays that way.
Shingles (aka herpes zoster) is a reactivation of the chickenpox virus. A person with shingles has had the chickenpox virus dormant from some past time. They did not contract shingles per se.
The vaccine uses a weakened live virus and it can come back out as shingles like the wild virus dormant from a past infection can. It just does so more rarely.
It is therefore a bit uncommon (but not unheard of) for a healthy child previously immunized to chickenpox to have the weakened virus from the vaccine reactivate and manifest as shingles. Was this a diagnosis by exam only or did they test it? And not to be biased but was this a pediatrician who saw it? There are other things that look very similar to shingles that would be less unusual for this presentation in this age group. Not that it matters as long as it is going away!