Usually, people might catch the chickenpox when they are young. After you've had chickenpox, the virus (varicella-zoster) will lay dormant in the nerve tissue near your spinal cord and brain. Years later it may reactivate, travel to the skin surface and cause shingles. If you are not immune to chickenpox (usually people who haven't contracted it before), you may also catch shingles from someone who is infected by the virus.