Can You Go Swimming With the Shingles Disease?
The U.K.’s National Health Services tells people with the shingles rash not to go swimming. It’s possible for the virus to be passed along to others via the water.
The NHS explains that the varicella-zoster virus causes shingles. When someone contracts chicken pox, which is typically a childhood disease, the virus remains in the body even after recovery. Though it’s usually inactive, the virus sometimes shows up again as a shingles rash. The virus’s reappearance has several possible causes, including aging, stress, HIV and AIDS, and bone marrow or organ transplant. Shingles is not passed from person to person; however, if someone with shingles passes the virus along to an individual who has never had chicken pox, that disease is likely to appear.
