1. What is shingles?
Shingles -- also called varicella-zoster -- is a painful skin disease caused by a reactivation of the chickenpox virus. It is distinctive because it affects only one side of the body. The early signs of shingles usually develop in three stages: severe pain or tingling, possibly itchy rash, and blisters that look like chickenpox.
2. Who gets shingles?
Shingles is very common. Fifty percent of all Americans will have had shingles by the time they are 80. While shingles occurs in people of all ages, it is most common in 60- to 80-year-olds
