Shingles is caused by the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) — the same virus that causes chickenpox. Once a person has chickenpox, the virus remains inactive in the body and can re-emerge at any time as shingles.

It is more common in older people and anyone with a weakened immune system. Lisa had been diagnosed several years earlier with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), a form of arthritis in which the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues.

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