There has been a reported case of shingles in school. Shingles is a skin infection. It is caused by the reactivation of the dormant varicella-zoster virus, which remains after childhood chickenpox. It is NOT possible to catch shingles from someone with the condition. However, you CAN catch chickenpox from someone with shingles, if you haven’t had chickenpox before. Chickenpox – what to look for:
- Low grade fever
- Itchy skin rash first appearing as flat spots that later develop into vesicles
- Incubation period 2-3 weeks
- Infectious period 1-2 days before rash appears until all vesicles have dried and crusted over
- Recovery in 2-4 weeks
Chickenpox is generally a mild disease but those who are pregnant or have a weakened immunity are more at risk of complications and should seek medical advice, if in contact with the virus. Please inform the school, should your child contract chickenpox. For further information on chickenpox please refer to the CHP website: http://www.chp.gov.hk/en/content/9/24/15.html