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Pharmacy and Medications

Is it Safe to be Around Someone with Chicken Pox While Taking Orencia?

10/27/2008 02:18PM

Question:

I am taking Orencia for my Rheumatoid Arthritis. My nephew was staying at my house with what we thought was the flu. Then he developed a rash. We were told it was the chicken pox. I had chicken pox when I was a child. Should I do any thing or stay away from him because I am on Orencia?

Answer:

After you have had chicken pox, the virus lies inactive in your body. The virus can be re-activated and cause shingles later in life. The first sign of shingles can be a tingle, itching, or stabbing pain on the skin, and then a rash appears days later.

Since you are taking Orencia, which decreases your body’s ability to fight off infection, exposure to the virus could re-activate and give you shingles. Because the virus that causes chicken pox and shingles is highly contagious, I would recommend staying away from your nephew and have him stay at someone else’s home if possible until his chicken pox goes away.

Thanks for your question!

Submitted by Laura E. Grigger, BSPS
PharmD Candidate, University of Toledo College of Pharmacy

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Response by:

The Ohio State University Carmen M. Hadley, RPh, CSPI
Clinical Instructor
Central Ohio Poison Center
Nationwide Children’s Hospital
College of Pharmacy
The Ohio State University