How can you get shingles and can a child (7) get it?

Chicken Pox: You get shingles if you were infected with chicken pox earlier in life and something activates the dormant virus and causes shingles. The chicken pox virus never goes away completely, it will lie dormant in one's neural cells. Then, later in life, the virus can re-awaken and cause shingles. Children can get shingles, but this is rare. See your doctor about treatment and prevention.

Reactivation: If you had chickenpox (known or not) or the vaccine, the virus eventually hibernates in nerve centers forever. Reactivation of the virus for whatever reason triggers a migration down the nerve to the skin supplied by the nerve(shingles).Direct contact with shingles debris can pass the virus & cause chickenpox, not shingles, but kids can get shingles just like adults from re-activation.