BOSTON -- Doctors are calling an experimental shingles vaccine an important advance in medicine.

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Heather Unruh Reports On Vaccine Resources: Contact Dr. Oaklander Merck.com NEJM.com

NewsCenter 5's Heather Unruh reported that some in the medical community consider the vaccine so important, they want the Food and Drug Administration to approve it immediately.

Anna Laski is recovering from a two-month bout with shingles.

"The shingles were on my eyebrows, my eye lashes, and under my lids," she said. "And it was a sharp pain, it was continuous pain."

Maria DelTufo said she is still feeling excruciating pain after her bout of shingles.

"It was all along the side of my face from my mouth into my ear, and it went inside my ear and caused nerve damage," she said.

Shingles comes from the virus that causes chickenpox. The virus can reactivate years later, leaving a blistery rash and pain that can linger for years.

"It will ultimately effect about 20 percent of Americans, and I'm even starting to see numbers of 25 to 30 percent because your risk increases with age," said Dr. Anne Louise Oaklander, of Massachusetts General Hospital.

But a concentrated version of the chickenpox vaccine used in children may prevent it. In a landmark study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers vaccinated more than 38,000 people over age 60 and followed them for three years. The study found that the number cases of shingles were cut in half, and the vaccine reduced debilitating pain from shingles by 70 percent.

Reactions to the shingles vaccine were minor, according to the study. Now doctors are calling on the FDA to approve it quickly.

"For those of us who do geriatric medicine, this was a very exciting study," Dr. Robert Dickman, of Newton Wellesley Hospital.

Dickman said people in their 60s would really benefit from the shingles vaccine.

"If it can be avoided, it would be one less thing to worry about as one ages," Dickman said.

"There's very little downside to it. And certainly, if you have the opportunity to reduce the risk for a serious illness with really devastating consequences, I say go for it," said Oaklander.

An editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine said the study should be enough for the FDA to approve the vaccine.