EE has Shingles
Caroliso
352 Posts
An employee notified me that she has been diagnosed with shingles and advised to stay away from those pregnant, with comprimised immune systems and who haven't yet had chicken pox. We have advised her to stay home until the doctor clears her to return to work.
Two questions:
What would you do regarding notifying those with whom she has been in contact in the office (other than those she knows to be pregnant)? Shingles is apparently transferred by touch. She works in a group of about 30. For obvious reasons she wants her condition kept confidential, but she also wants to do what is needed.
Is this something I should be asking her physician to rule on? If not, what resources might I use to figure out what the health risk is? We don't have a physician on retainer.
Two questions:
What would you do regarding notifying those with whom she has been in contact in the office (other than those she knows to be pregnant)? Shingles is apparently transferred by touch. She works in a group of about 30. For obvious reasons she wants her condition kept confidential, but she also wants to do what is needed.
Is this something I should be asking her physician to rule on? If not, what resources might I use to figure out what the health risk is? We don't have a physician on retainer.
Comments
good luck!
If it were me, I would not disclose anything. The employee requested her condition be kept confidential, and you have a duty to uphold that confidentiality. Unless the employee gives you express permission, I wouldn't touch this can of worms!
I would do some research on shingles. If you determine that early diagnosis and treatment makes a difference, I would notify others in a generic way. By that I mean, perhaps, a note that it has come to the company's attention that employees may have been exposed to a person with shingles. I would not identify the employee. Your other employees may guess who exposed them, but at least you will not have identified the person.
You might also check with your workers' comp. provider. If another employee contracts the disease, that employee may have a workers' comp. claim as the disease was contracted at work. You might also want to set up an on-site clinic to test and vaccinate employees (if this is a condition where vaccination is appropriate). Your workers' comp. carrier may be willing to absorb or split the cost of the clinic.
"What causes shingles?
Shingles occurs when the virus that causes chickenpox starts up again in your body. After you get better from chickenpox, the virus "sleeps" (is dormant) in your nerve roots. In some people, it stays dormant forever. In others, the virus "wakes up" when disease, stress, or aging weakens the immune system. It is not clear why this happens. But after the virus becomes active again, it can only cause shingles, not chickenpox.
You can't catch shingles from someone else who has shingles."
Please note the last line.
a bit more reading should lead you to after the rash is gone- it is not considered *catchy*.
If you are concerned, I, too, would notify all ees that there has been an exposure risk, and leave it at that. You do not need to ID any particulr ee.
We have some workers who suffer from shingles, and some folks truly suffer. My finding has been that the ones who need to stay home (just prior to and during an active stage) do so because of pain. They come back into the work environment when the painful stage passes and coworkers never know about the outbreak unless the workers chooses to share the info.