NBA Star Tyrese Haliburton Has Shingles. What to Know About the Condition

Shingles is a common condition: About 1 million cases occur in the U.S. each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 1 in 3 people nationwide will develop it during their lifetime. It’s also known as herpes zoster, and refers to a painful rash caused by the reactivation of the virus that causes chickenpox.

Yet many don’t associate the illness, which is most common in older populations, with healthy, 20-something young people—let alone professional athletes. That perception overlooks how the virus behaves, experts say. Research has found that shingles incidence increased across age groups over several decades, with some analyses noting continued increases among younger adults even as rates in older adults have stabilized.

Here’s what to know about shingles—and why even young people in peak physical health aren’t immune.

Shingles is a direct consequence of a previous chickenpox infection. Though they’re distinct illnesses, both are caused by the varicella-zoster virus. “We recover from chickenpox, but the virus remains within our bodies, and 20, 30, 40 years later, it can wake up and come out as shingles,” says Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of medicine in the division of infectious diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. “The virus is hibernating in us.”