# Shingles Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2013, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shingles-question/648873 "2013-01-31T03:42:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shingles-question/648873/1 "2013-01-31T03:42:27Z")
What percentage of the population, say over 60 years of age, develop shingles? ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shingles-question/648873/2 "2013-01-31T03:48:21Z")
I don’t know, but I have heard that those who get it often wish they had died instead. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shingles-question/648873/3 "2013-01-31T03:53:51Z")
> [@](#): > > About 50% of people who live to 85 years of age will have had an episode of herpes zoster. > [@](#): > > The incidence among people 60 years of age and older is about 10 cases per 1,000 U.S. population annually. > [@](#): > > A recent study estimated that there are 96 deaths each year in which herpes zoster was the actual underlying cause (0.28-0.69 per 1 million population). Almost all the deaths occurred in elderly people or those with compromised or suppressed immune systems. [http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/hcp/clinical-overview.html](http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/hcp/clinical-overview.html) ---
**Author:** ![Mortimus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Mortimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mortimus)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shingles-question/648873/4 "2013-01-31T07:27:19Z")
If you suspect you or someone you know has shingles it is important to get to a doc ASAP. There are drugs that will help minimize the effects/duration of shingles. But to be effective the drugs needed to be administered as early as possible. This is one thing you don’t want to do a “wait and see” on. Get to a doc fast. ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shingles-question/648873/5 "2013-01-31T07:43:17Z")
I had it at 20. It was no worse than a minor case of poison ivy. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shingles-question/648873/6 "2013-01-31T07:49:30Z")
I had shingles once and I’m under age 60, but it was only several blisters on the sides of my chest under my arms. It really hurt while showering, and I made an emergency doctor appointment for spider bites, but it turned out to be something other than spider bites. I recovered quickly after taking the medication. answer:“About 25 percent of healthy adults may develop shingles, usually after age 45. The likelihood of developing shingles increases 10-fold after the age of 60.” ---
**Author:** ![Bremidon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Bremidon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bremidon)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shingles-question/648873/7 "2013-01-31T14:51:29Z")
I had shingles at around 37. Mine took the “high road” and put my left eye at risk. Hurt like anything. Fortunately, I got to the doc pretty fast, he gave me some of the newer anti-viral stuff, and I had no lingering effects from the shingles…and that’s a really good thing too. The list of bad aftereffects reads like a Stephen King horror novel: blindness, deafness, itching, brain damage, and permanent “phantom” pain. Jeeze.