How Many Days Is Shingles Typically Contagious? I Started Taking

Brief Answer:
Until the lesions have crusted over.

Detailed Answer:
Hello, I'm Dr. Branch, thanks for using Ask a Doctor. You are right that patients with herpes zoster, or shingles, can transmit the virus to persons who have not been infected with the virus and have not had the vaccine. The herpes zoster virus can be transmitted from direct contact with the skin lesions or even from the air around skin lesions. Until the lesions have crusted over, you should try to keep them covered and wash your hands frequently in order to minimize the spread of the virus. You should also avoid contact with pregnant women who have never had chickenpox or the varicella vaccine, premature or low birth weight infants, and immunocompromised individuals. Once the skin lesions have crusted over, they are considered to be non infectious. Usually this occurs by 7 to 10 days from the time the rash first began.

I hope that helps and answers your question, please let me know if you have any other questions about that and I would be glad to discuss it further with you.

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Brief Answer:
The picture is not clear enough

Detailed Answer:
I'm sorry, I cannot tell from the picture whether the lesions above your right eye have crusted over or not. If you want to try to send another picture, I can try to take another look.

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