The chickenpox virus is often re-activated as shingles in older people GETTY IMAGESA woman of 97 has died after developing chickenpox for the second time in her life. Doctors were warned not to assume that elderly people could not get chickenpox because early treatment can be crucial. Chickenpox is a common childhood infection characterised by distinctive raised red spots but usually clears up in a couple of weeks. However, the virus often lies dormant in the body and as the immune system weakens later in life it can re-emerge as shingles. The woman who died had the virus as a child but suffered a different strain nine decades later.

Source: The Times December 29, 2017 00:00 UTC