Why do older people get shingles?
Older people tend to get shingles because their immune system weakens with aging (younger people who become immunocompromised also tend to get shingles). Shingles is actually a reactivation of the chickenpox virus infection most of us have had as children. We give systemic acyclovir to limit the duration (and hopefully minimize the severity of post-herpetic neuralgia which persists in some people).
