Your chance of developing shingles during your lifetime is relatively high. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of three Americans will get the disease. In 2010, about 1 million people were treated for the disease.

According to the National Institutes of Health, shingles is most likely to occur in those ages 50 and older, those who had the chicken pox before age 1 and those who have weakened immune systems.

Shingles, which is caused by an inactive chicken pox virus that, for unknown reasons, becomes active, is not transmissible as shingles to other people, according to the CDC. However, on rare occasions, those who have not had chicken pox or the chicken pox vaccine may contract this once common childhood illness from someone with shingles.

Caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox, shingles is best known for the appearance of a painful rash. The rash, which may blister and usually affects one side of the body, can last up to four weeks.

Other symptoms for this potentially fatal illness may include the following:

• Fever
• Chills
• Headache
• Upset stomach
• Pneumonia
• Hearing problems
• Blindness
• Brain inflammation

Anyone who has these symptoms should consult their Los Angeles physician. For those who already have shingles, the doctor may prescribe an antiviral medication to reduce the pain and duration of the illness. Itching and pain may be relieved with antihistamines, oatmeal or starch bath, or calamine lotion.

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The CDC also recommends that those most people ages 60 and older – even those who’ve had the chicken pox – get vaccinated against shingles. There is no maximum age for the one-time vaccine because the older individuals become, the more severe the symptoms of shingles manifest themselves.

The CDC reports that the vaccine is not considered effective for the treatment of active cases of shingles or for the pain that often lingers after the rash once the rash has disappeared. However, the vaccine still is recommended even for those who have had a previous occurrence of shingles.

Those who should not receive a shingles vaccination, according to the CDC, include anyone who is allergic to its components, including gelatin or the antibiotic neomycin; those with immune systems weakened by HIV/AIDS, steroid use, bone marrow or lymphatic cancers and cancer treatments such as radiation or chemotherapy; and pregnant women.

For individuals who are able to have the vaccine, the CDC reports very few side effects, including headache or redness, itching, soreness or swelling at the injection site.

The vaccine is intended to protect individuals against shingles only and does not protect against other herpes-related conditions.