The viruses that cause common skin warts are passed from child to child. Once the virus infects the skin, it typically takes several months for the wart to become visible.
Some children are more susceptible to warts than others. Children with a compromised immune system — such as children who have had an organ transplant — are more likely to get warts. Kids who bite their nails or pick at hangnails – creating tiny cuts in the skin — are also more likely to get warts.
But even children with healthy immune systems and good nail habits may be more susceptible to getting warts, just as some people are more likely than others to catch colds often.
Children pick up the virus in many ways: By sharing towels and toys or playing with friends. However, there are ways to reduce the odds of your child developing warts. Here are Krol’s top tips:
- Encourage your child to wear flip-flops around a public swimming pool and in public showers.
- At home, if someone else has a problem with plantar warts, encourage the one with warts (if old enough) to spray a dilute bleach solution in the shower stall or bathtub after use and then rinse.
- Assign one bath and hand towel to each child, and tell them not to share towels.
Of course, there’s no sure way to prevent warts. Simply playing with other children exposes kids to the possibility of catching warts, says Nanette Silverberg, MD, director of pediatric and adolescent dermatology at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City.
A child with warts plays on monkey bars, for instance, and another child with small cuts on the hand touches the surface. The virus is transmitted and that other child develops warts.
Leave a Reply