BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) - Without vaccinations, nearly one-third of all American adults may develop the painful skin disease called shingles at some point in their lifetime.  A vaccine to prevent shingles has been available for five years, but few people are getting it.

Shingles is a recurrence on chicken pox so if you had chicken pox as a kid, you're at risk for shingles.  For as many as 1 in 5 shingles patients, the pain lingers long after the rash clears up.

The shingles vaccine is recommended for people 60 and older, but now, the CDC is considering whether to recommended the vaccine at age 50.

For patients in their 50s, the vaccine lowers the risk of getting shingles by about 70 percent and for those 60 and over, it cuts the odds in half.