this man will not get shingles reoccuring on his lower back. if he's had this more than once, he needs to pursue a further work up.
Herpes on the lower back is still genital herpes and is just as contagious to you as if he had herpes lesions on his actual genitals. this is well worth further evaluation for better answers.
grace
You're confusing different viruses.
Shingles is a skin rash caused by the same virus that causes chickenpox. This virus is called the Varicella zoster virus (VZV) - also referred to as herpes zoster, and is in the herpes family of viruses. So it's the reactivation of the chickenpox virus that causes shingles. You can't catch shingles from someone else who has shingles. But a person with a shingles rash can spread chickenpox to another person who hasn't had chickenpox and who hasn't gotten the chickenpox vaccine.
Herpes Simplex Virus, or HSV, is what causes oral herpes (cold sores) or genital herpes.