What is shingles, and who can get it?
Shingles is another name for a condition called “herpes zoster” and is an infection that results from the reactivation of the same virus that causes chickenpox (the varicella virus). It causes a painful rash. After you have chickenpox (usually as a child), the virus that causes it stays in your body in certain nerve cells. Most of the time your immune system keeps the virus in these cells. As you get older, or if your immune system gets weak, the varicella virus may escape from the nerve cells and cause shingles. If you have had the chickenpox vaccine, you are less likely to get chickenpox and therefore less likely to later develop shingles. Most people who get shingles are more than 50 years old or have a weak immune system. For example, you might get shingles if you have cancer, take medicines that weaken your immune system or have the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).
