Risk Factors

Chicken Pox

• Exposure to the virus if you have not had chickenpox nor received the vaccine
• Age, under 10 years of age
• Time of year: late winter and early spring is the most common time that the virus is spread

Shingles

• Age (most common in people over 60)
• Stress
• Weakened immune system (for example, people with HIV/AIDS, or those taking immune suppressing drugs due to autoimmune diseases or organ transplants)
• Having had chickenpox before age 1

By Nicholas Arcabascio