Angela Milton had had chicken pox twice. The virus first appeared when she a baby, and then again as an adult. She thought she had paid the ultimate price of chicken pox.

Until…

In her early 30s, her left arm started to hurt tremendously. Soon after, red splotches appeared on the same arm.

“Could this be shingles?” she thought.

Friends repeatedly told her that she was too young. But then a visit to a doctor confirmed the common diagnosis.

It was indeed shingles. And if she didn’t isolate herself, she risked giving chicken pox to her young child.

Angela’s story is not unique.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one out of three Americans will have shingles during the course of a lifetime. And about 1 million cases of shingles are diagnosed in the United States each year.

So just what is shingles?

According to the CDC, “Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV), the same virus that causes chickenpox. After a person recovers from chickenpox, the virus stays dormant (inactive) in the body. For reasons that are not fully known, the virus can reactivate years later, causing shingles.”