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What Causes Shingles?
Shingles happen because the virus that causes chickenpox (varicella zoster) gets reactivated.
After a person has chickenpox, the virus will stay in the body but is inactive (dormant).
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If the virus wakes up and becomes active in the body again, it causes shingles.
Not everyone who catches chickenpox as a child will develop shingles later in life.
Its rare, but some people get shingles more than once.
However, if you have shingles, you could pass VZV to people who havenever had chickenpox.
The virus can be spread through direct contact with fluid from shingles rash or blisters.
An outbreak of shingles usually happens many years after a person had chickenpox.
These are the pre-rash symptoms of shingles.
Within a few days, a one-sided rash forms on the face or body.
Is It Safe to Be Around Someone With Shingles?
If you have shingles, you’re free to go to work if you are no longer contagious.
Even though you cannot give someone else shingles, you might give them the virus that causes it.
If you have shingles, you should take steps to prevent spreading the virus to at-risk people.
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New York State Department of Health.Shingles (herpes zoster).
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Shingles symptoms and complications.
