The average cost for treating shingles is $525 per person or $566 million each year (in 2005 dollars), including prescription medicines, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
People age 65 and older are also seven times more likely to get shingles than the non-elderly, according to data based on the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a detailed source of information on the health services used by Americans, the frequency with which they are used, the cost of those services, and how they are paid.
Shingles infection is caused by the varicella-zoster virus, the same virus that causes chicken pox. Symptoms include burning or shooting pain, tingling or itching, according to the American Chronic Pain Association website.
Unlike chicken pox, shingles is not contagious.
