Do you have to had measles in your lifetime to get shingles?

Hello Anon

Thank you for writing!

Measles is viral infection. It is highly contagious. It causes fever, cough, and a rash. It was once a common childhood illness. It is not connected to shingles - they are different viruses.

Chickenpox is connected to shingles - do you mean chickenpox? Both of these come from the varicella zoster virus. If you had chickenpox as a child, you can still get shingles or you can get chickenpox as an adult although it's not as commonly seen. There is a chickenpox vaccine, a shingles vaccine and a measles vaccine.

The vaccine that could trigger shingles that you may be talking about is the flu virus - we have a lot of anecdotal and self-reporting evidence on this site that the flu virus could trigger shingles.

You post seems a little mixed up so let me know if I have answered your questions.

Best,
Susan