are shingles contagious

Shingles can be contagious and can be spread to anyone including babies, children, or adults who’ve not had the chickenpox. These individuals will not develop shingles, but will develop the chicken pox instead. Once someone has had the chickenpox, they cannot catch shingles (or the virus) from a person suffering from them. Once you’ve had the chicken pox, you have the potential to advance into shingles later on in life. Shingles is a blistery skin rash caused by nerve and skin inflammation and is in the herpes family of viruses called varicella zoster virus (VZV). After someone has the chickenpox, this virus lives dormant within the nervous system and can be woken up by various causes.