Maid Has Ocular Herpes

[spolsky]

Our maid has shown up 3 days ago with ocular herpes. She went to the hospital and was prescribed acyclovir. Now her eye is red and swollen. Blisters are also starting to appear on her face near her infected eye.

How contagious is this? What precautions should I take? She insist to keep working even though we offered to pay for her to stay home for a few days. I'm a bit concerned about the transmission of this virus and her health while she's working. Any thoughts?

[bina]

unless u are kissing her or handling her face or she is smooching with your baby/children, the only danger is to her eye and her...

washing hands after her touching her eye is all that is needed. herpes goes from mucous membrane to mucous membrane and dies farily quickly when not hanging around in a mucous membrane or nerve ending i.e. when not in or on the body, is less contagious then the diahrea causing bugs which hang around for a long long time....

bina

israel

[FBN]

With the appearance of the blisters as well it is most likely due to varicella zoster (Shingles) and not herpes simplex.

The varicella virus (same family as "common" herpes) causes chicken pox and is highly contageous for kids and people who have not had chicken pox.

The maid may be developing what is called "Ramsey Hunt" syndrome; you can search that and has potentially serious complications.

So it is suggested that she stops working till the blisters have all dried. She needs optimal care here to avoid complications and one of this would be to rest in adition to the acyclovar, vitamins etc.

[bina]

vairicella is what my boy had at some point and it was handled as if it were non contagious (well it was a band around his back but still, he wasnt asked to be at home from school as it was considered to be not highly contagious unless there is prolonged contact if at all)...

but if it is indeed ocular herpes from the two herpes simplex types, the precautions i wrote are considered , here, enough , for the public ... although asthetically and psychologically its better to stay at home. also hurts and as fbn says, can cause complications if not treated properly .... my ex MIL has facial herpes which she spread to her eye through repeated contact (and weakened immune system and diabetic) and she has never had instructions by any of our doctors to stay at home: just to avoid kissing the grandkids on the face ....and herpes info here has caught up to the states and europe finally , but her own personal care has to be good, as fbn pointed out: vitamins, using the meds exactly as prescribed (someting thais dont seemt o be good at)

bina

[Cobrabiker]

Sometimes you need to have an iron heart, no mercy! Generousity will make you regret for your life. Herpes virus is very very contagious, for example if she rubs her eyes, then touches your kid and your kid rubs his eyes, then the virus will enter the mucus membrane into the eyes,or any parts of the body especially there is a cut, a bruise, or your kid accidently use her towel to rub his eyes.

Anyway, herpes is a no cure disease, and ocular herpes can lead to blindness. Pay her one month in advance and get her out as fast as you could!! This is nobody's fault, but don't take the risk. No one is going to pity you when you or your family memebers contracted it, and your kid will hate you for life if he gets it. This is like keeping an unexploded bomb in you house, with no clue of when or whether it will explode. So don't be a pussy and put everyone at risk!

[mommysboy]

Sometimes you need to have an iron heart, no mercy! Generousity will make you regret for your life. Herpes virus is very very contagious, for example if she rubs her eyes, then touches your kid and your kid rubs his eyes, then the virus will enter the mucus membrane into the eyes,or any parts of the body especially there is a cut, a bruise, or your kid accidently use her towel to rub his eyes.

Anyway, herpes is a no cure disease, and ocular herpes can lead to blindness. Pay her one month in advance and get her out as fast as you could!! This is nobody's fault, but don't take the risk. No one is going to pity you when you or your family memebers contracted it, and your kid will hate you for life if he gets it. This is like keeping an unexploded bomb in you house, with no clue of when or whether it will explode. So don't be a pussy and put everyone at risk!

Red eye is very contagious, not sure 'ocular herpes' is at all. It's caused by the same virus responsible for cold sores and I think we all have that one anyway.

It's fully curable if caught early enough.

[Sheryl]

As FBN has explained, there are 2 different types of ocular herpes.

One is indeed caused by the herpes simplex virus type I, the same thing that causes cold sores. It is not very contagious and indeed rarely spreads even to the other eye, and in any case most adults have had prior exposure to the virus and already harbor it. A person with this is no greater threat than someone with a common cold sore.

The other is caused by herpes zoster, the same virus that causes chickenpox. An eye infection with herpes zoster is basically "shingles" affecting the face and eye.

The fact that she has a blistering rash near the eye suggests she has the second, not the first, type.

This (herpes zoster) is contagious for people who have not had chickenpox and not been vaccinated for it. What they are in danger of getting is not ocular herpes zoster/shingles but rather chickenpox. Shingles (including the ocular form) cannot be directly caught from another person as it is the result of a reactivation of a herpes zoster virus already present in the body from a past infection.

If everyone in the household has either been immunized for chickenpox or has had it, then there is no danger. If not -- or if there is any uncertainty about this -- then you should avoid contact with her until all lesions have healed. It is certainly not necessary to permanently fire her. Within a week or two -- once there is no longer any visible rash, blisters or crust -- she is no longer infections.

It sounds like your household has already been exposed. In which case, if any household members have not had chickenpox and also not been vaccinated for it, they may already be infected. Chickenpox has a long incubation period (1 to 3 weeks) so if this is the case it will not be immediately apparent.

Therefore IF anyone in the household falls into that category (never had chickenpow/never vaccinated for it)the follwing are CDC recommendations. DISREGARD this if everyone in the household has already had chickenpox or been vaccinated.

(1) Vaccination (with the ordinary varicella vaccine) " as possible within 72 hours and possibly up to 120 hours after exposure, may prevent or modify disease and is recommended if there are no contraindications to use." AFAIK there is no harm to getting vaccinated even if the exposure period is longer, although it may not be effective.

(2) In certain cases administration of the Varicella Zoster Immune Globulin (VZIG) is warranted. These would include pregnant women, small infants and people whose immune systems are compromised. Comnsult a physician if you thin k you or anyone else in the family may fall into this category.

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2010/chapter-2/varicella.aspx

Regardless of whether you do either of the above, you should avoid contact with infants, pregnant women and people whose immune systems are compromised (e.g. people with AIDs, people taking immunosupressent drugs, people on chemotherapy for cancer) until 3 weeks have passed since you were exposed. Again, this applie only if you have no prior immunity to herpes zoster, i.e. if you never had chickenpox and have never been vaccinated for it.

[mommysboy]

Sometimes you need to have an iron heart, no mercy! Generousity will make you regret for your life. Herpes virus is very very contagious, for example if she rubs her eyes, then touches your kid and your kid rubs his eyes, then the virus will enter the mucus membrane into the eyes,or any parts of the body especially there is a cut, a bruise, or your kid accidently use her towel to rub his eyes.

Anyway, herpes is a no cure disease, and ocular herpes can lead to blindness. Pay her one month in advance and get her out as fast as you could!! This is nobody's fault, but don't take the risk. No one is going to pity you when you or your family memebers contracted it, and your kid will hate you for life if he gets it. This is like keeping an unexploded bomb in you house, with no clue of when or whether it will explode. So don't be a pussy and put everyone at risk!

Are you confusing this ailment with the black death?