Q: Is there anything new for preventing shingles? — JoAnn, via email A: There is some good news about shingles, the three-alarm fire of pain syndromes. A vaccine that lowers your risk of developing the blistery rash has just been approved for people ages 50 to 59. Until this spring, the vaccine (Zostavax) was OK’d only for those 60 and older.

Getting shingles (aka herpes zoster infection) is like an Internal Revenue Service audit: No one wants to go through it, but an amazing number of people do, and sometimes it leaves you with a lot of pain. With shingles, if you’ve had chickenpox, the odds are about one in three that you’ll eventually get shingles (unless you get the shot). Why? Chickenpox is caused by the varicella zoster virus, which then lies dormant in your nerve cells, often for decades, until an immune system glitch wakes it up.