How Dangerous Is Shingles During Pregnancy?
Whenever a woman contracts the shingles virus during pregnancy it can e a devastating and dangerous ordeal because shingles tends to weaken the immunity of those who contract it. The Varecella Zoster virus (VZV) is the virus that causes shingles. The virus is contagious and the seriousness factor is higher when a woman is earlier in her pregnancy. Shingles and pregnancy are not directly related—it is not a given condition, but shingles, if contracted during pregnancy, can definitely affect the mother’s nerves physically. There are a few conditions associated with shingles and the unborn child. There is a disease known as Congenital Defects Syndrome that can affect the infant and the possibility is also high of the mother and the fetus contracting pneumonia caused by the virus. When the baby acquires the virus in the first six months of a woman’s pregnancy, he can get Fetal Vericella Defects Syndrome. This disease can affect the infant’s eyes with cataracts, his arms and legs can be defective, and also some scarring of the skin may occur. Now, the mother may be in danger of contracting some type of illness fro the shingles virus all the way through her term, but the baby is at less risk after the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. Some physicians believe that shingles and pregnancy are not closely enough related that a pregnant woman should go to great lengths to keep herself away from people with shingles. They contend that it is not a very likely possibility for a pregnant woman to get shingles unless her immune system is already weak or unless she has had chicken pox. It is said that if she has had chicken pox, then the virus could definitely re-emerge during pregnancy, but this does not always happen even under these circumstances. Other experts even contend that if you are pregnant and have had chicken pox, you are immune to the shingles virus—go figure! Well, experts do agree that shingles is normally not contracted through occasional contact—a person must come into direct contact with the fresh blisters themselves. Now you may want to know that if an expectant mother gets shingles symptoms 5 days prior to the delivery of her child or if the symptoms show up 2 days after the delivery, there is a 30%^ to 40% chance of the infant contracting Neonatal Varicella. If this condition has affected the infant, it can be fatal if nothing is done about it. The effects of shingles and the effects of chickenpox during the pregnancy period are different. Shingles and pregnancy is much milder than chicken pox and pregnancy. This is where the confusion may lie with some people’s beliefs. Shingles can affect a pregnant woman to a quite serious degree. However, chickenpox has a more devastating effect and also is more risky. If a person has had the virus that causes both shingles and chickenpox (VZV) the chicken pox is more likely to occur in the unborned infant. The expectant mother should be more worried about chickenpox. It can actually be contracted from casual contact. You don’t even have to touch the person with chickenpox in order to contract it. So the bottom line concerning shingles and pregnancy is that shingles can be contracted during pregnancy, but not likely if the mother is healthy and has a strong immune system. By all means, however, take every precaution to protect your baby.
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