The advisory panel of the CDC has announced it will recommend a routine shingles vaccine for all Americans at age 60.

If you’ve ever had chickenpox, you have a 20% chance of developing shingles in later life. A person who lives to be 85 has a 50% chance of getting shingles.

Shingles occurs when the varicella-zoster virus, which can lie dormant for years after taking refuge in nerve cells, is reactivated and travels down nerve cell fibers to cause a renewed infection. Shingles erupts in a rash of pustules just like chickenpox, but because the nervous system is now involved, is far more painful.

In some cases the patient may develop postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) - a condition characterized by unrelenting pain, caused by damage to the nervous system.

The new vaccine Zostavax has been shown to be more than 60% effective in reducing shingles symptoms.

Read more about the vaccine and shingles at WebMD.