Shingles in Children - How Common Is It?

Shingles isn't often considered to be a childhood condition, but it is possible for shingles to develop in young children. Shingles is a skin condition that develops from the virus varicella-zoster, the virus that causes chicken pox. Prior to the mid-1990s, almost 95% of the United States population had contracted chicken pox by the age of 18, but thanks to a vaccination for the virus, more than 60% of children in the country have been inoculated. The success of the vaccine has caused the occurrence of the condition to drop dramatically - and in turn that of shingles, since shingles develops from the dormant virus and chicken pox must first be contracted and healed before shingles can develop. This often causes shingles outbreaks in a much older population who contracted the virus prior to the creation of a vaccine, but shingles in children accounted for more than 5% of the outbreaks in recent years.

Regardless of age, shingles is triggered by a weak immune system. Since our immune systems are often strong as children and adolescents, shingles is rare among children. However, certain things can trigger shingles in children, including:

Shingles is not a contagious condition, so unlike chicken pox you cannot catch shingles from being exposed to someone with active shingles. Vaccination against the varicella-zoster does not prevent shingles in children and adults, but the vaccinated individuals are much less likely to develop shingles in their lifetime. However, if you or your child has not been vaccinated and never contracted chicken pox, exposure to an active shingles infection can result in the development of chicken pox.