I must say I disagree with the Breastfeeding Answer Book if it says the mother should pump on a breast which has a lesion of shingles. Shingles is caused by Varicella-Zoster virus, which is a herpesvirus, but it is not Herpes Simplex, which causes skin lesions similar to Shingles, but can cause other serious, central nervous system illness. If the mother has shingles, she has high antibody titers, and she had immunity when she was pregnant, and passed on immunity to the baby. She continues to pass on immunity to the baby in her milk. Chicken pox in a 2 week old baby who is relatively immune is almost always a very mild illness. Jack Newman, MD, FRCPC