what causes shingles rash to keep spreading?
Read More. However, the virus that causes shingles, the varicella zoster virus, can be spread from a person with active shingles to another person who has never had chickenpox. In such cases, the person exposed to the virus might develop chickenpox, but they would not develop shingles.
After you get better from chickenpox, the virus sleeps (is dormant) in your nerve roots. In some people, it stays dormant forever. In others, the virus wakes up when disease, stress, or aging weakens the immune system. Some medicines may trigger the virus to wake up and cause a shingles rash.