Paranoia?? Shingles...

Okay, so a coworker has shingles.
I have no DIRECT contact with this person....they actually work out of an office 4+ hours away.
However, they are mailing receipts to us for expenses.

Should I be worried about touching those receipts??
I know it's silly...but I'm just a little paranoid...

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Jessica

Its not silly.

You are ok. Your baby is protected by your immunity right now aslong as you have had the chicken pox or the varricella vaccine. You also need to come in direct contact with it. My husband had shingles while I was pregnant and this is what my OB told me.

Thanks!!  I appreciate the help  :-)

Hope your husband healed quickly, I hear it's very painful...

If you've had chickenpox, you should be OK...but if you have not had chickenpox...I'd stay away from them.  You cannot get shingles from them, but if you've not had chickenpox, you can get chickenpox from someone w/shingles.  I don't believe you can get it from receipts...I think you'd have to come into direct contact w/the shingles blisters to get chickenpox from shingles.

Hopefully that makes sense. 

Holly




http://www.forces-of-nature.net/topics/shingles/Is_Shingles_Contagious.htm

Shingles, or herpes zoster, is a rash that develops from the reappearance of the chickenpox virus, varicella-zoster. It is contagious to anyone who has never had chickenpox. Since shingles develops from the reactivation of the chickenpox virus, it is impossible to get shingles from someone else’s outbreak of shingles. However, people who haven’t previously had chickenpox can contract it from coming into contact with someone who has shingles, since the fluid from the blisters can carry the virus to others.

While shingles isn’t as contagious as chickenpox, it still poses a mild threat to those who have never had chickenpox or the chicken pox vaccine. Any person who has shingles should also make an effort to avoid pregnant women, infants, and children until their blisters have fully scabbed over.

Who is most at risk?

Although it is not possible to spread shingles to others, the chickenpox virus can be spread to anyone who has never had it. This means that anyone who decreased immunity due to illness, chemotherapy, or old age is susceptible, and should consider anyone with shingles to be contagious to them. Newborn babies are also at a greater risk, as they have little defense against such an invasive virus. Women who are pregnant are also at risk for the virus, and could pass it to their unborn child if they contract shingles during pregnancy.

However, while chickenpox is very contagious and most often transmitted by airborne particles, shingles is more localized and most commonly only transferred via direct contact with open sores. Therefore, the risk of catching chickenpox from shingles is relatively low.

Thanks Holly!!  I really appreciate all the information :-)

Good to know stuff too!!! 
Luckily I have had the chicken pox as a kid...with the scars to prove it, LOL


Thanks again!!!