Yes it is and it could be no for me as I had the shingles in June of 2011 also and also could be because I have allergies to everything except green bean and chicken but thankfully I have built up immunities to the food I'm allergic but not anything else which makes my life very irritable sometimes especially when I go out hence wearing a mask Everytime I go out somewhere I get looks from some adults like I'm contagious and have a lot of adults ask me why I wear the mask and I tell them why but I really love the children as they already ask me if I'm a doctor before I explain why I'm wearing the mask