Shingles and my unborn baby?

Okay...I work in an office and my "cube mate" was diagnosed with shingles (a very mild case, no fever, doc told her she wasn't contagious) so I briefly thought umm...maybe i shouldn't be around her since I am pregnant and then just let it slip out of my mind...a few ladies from another department came over and it came up that the lady had shingles and they started freaking out like "you aren't suppose to be around her!" so now I am worried...

I have had chickenpox as a child...is there any risk to my baby?

thanks for your input!!
~Flora

Flora,

As long as you've had chicken pox, you are fine.  You can't catch shingles from anyone and baby isn't getting any exposure to the chicken pox virus from them either.  HTH!

I wish I knew for sure but I don't... Just thought I'd let you know that I hope everything works out for the best. Maybe you should call your dr.'s office and pose that question. It couldn't hurt.

Thanks Ladies...I should have put in the post that I have a call in to my doctor's office...but no return call yet...don't they know I am worried?!!!!

~Flora

Actually, you only GET shingles if you've HAD the chickenpox.  So yeah, if you've had the chickenpox, you can be at risk.  But you most likely won't get them just by sharing a cube with them.  I'd call your ob and I always research everything online.

My husband got the shingles and they said the baby was fine because he hasn't had chickenpox yet...it was ME that could get them because I HAVE had the chickenpox. 

Here is a blurb from mednet: "Anyone who has ever had chickenpox is at risk for the development of shingles, although it occurs most commonly in people over the age of 60. It has been estimated that up to 1,000,000 cases of shingles occur each year in the U.S."
http://www.medicinenet.com/shingles/article.htm

Good luck!  And be careful...not everyone here has the perfect advice...so ask your ob.

Sandy

When I worked in the hospital, I cared for patients with shingles.  My ob told me there was no risk to the baby since I had had chicken pox as a child.