shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. shingles itself is not contagious. what i mean is you cannot get shingles from someone else who has shingles. shingles is contagious from the standpoint that you can get chickenpox from direct exposure to shingles blisters. in other words if a person has never had chickenpox and has not been vaccinated against chickenpox that person can get chickenpox if they come in contact with shingles blisters. however if you have had chickenpox (or shingles) you cannot get shingles from coming in contact with someone who is having an active outbreak of shingles. a shingles outbreak is triggered from within your own body. it is not caused by contact with someone else. so to answer your question you do not need to avoid contact with your dad. you also should be aware that you can get the shingles vaccination if you're over age 50 even if you've had an outbreak of shingles in the past. i hope this helps! i know a man who told me his wife died from shingles. i think he is a carrier even though he does not have the symptoms? because after cleaning his house for him and spending a few hours talking with him and using his dishes i developed a single shingle on my hand and two on the top of my upper lip. now i have never had herpes or fever blisters or cold sores. ever. my family members were afflicted but i never was infected. i freaked out and treated the sores with a variety of things to get it to go away before it spread. i used colloidal silver for one. both topically and orally. i used a baking soda paste. i used essential oils oregano and peppermint. i finally also used organic apple cider vinegar and the one on my hand has disappeared. the ones on the lip were gone in four days. the one on my hand had lasted two weeks. i think you can catch it from someone. my husband had it when i was pregnant with my son in 1984 and i never got it. i have had chickenpox a mild case when i was a little one. i think this is a nervous reaction in the body to stressors that one has not release from. you can die from it. it seems more serious to me than they make it out to be. and it some cases it is contagious.
if someone is exposed to someone with shingles can that person become a carrier of the shingles virus? . my father has recently been exposed to someone that has been diagnosed with having shingles. since i have had shingles once already i would like to know if i should stay away from him if he is a carrier of the virus. if he is a carrier how long should i stay away from him?