The chicken pox vaccine became available in the U.S. in 1995 and, since then, cases of the virus in the U.S. have plummeted. But chicken pox still emerges from time to time. Montana public health ...

ANSWER: Yes, you can develop shingles. The only chicken pox vaccine licensed is a live, weakened strain of the chicken pox.

DEAR DR. ROACH: I’m a 56-year-old male who never had the chicken pox. When the first of my children was born, I had blood tests done to see if I’d ever been exposed. I had not, so I received the ...

A few friends and colleagues have come down with shingles recently. All of them were under the age of 50. Shingles, also called herpes zoster, is a viral infection caused by the reactivation of the ...

Dear Dr. Roach: A few months ago, you wrote about the benefits of the shingles vaccine. At 63, I’m one of the 1% who has never had, nor been exposed to, chicken pox. I was tested in 2022 for varicella ...