Stop Blaming Toads--Virus Is the Cause.

• Position: Warts - Brief Article

Many people will tell you that, if you want to avoid getting warts, you shouldn't touch frogs or toads. This belief in the amphibious cause of common skin warts may be the result of folktales read to small children. While these stories may have provided bedtime whimsical delight, they have created a major misconception about what warts are and where they came from.

Though the incidence of warts in the U.S. has reached epidemic proportions, few people, including sufferers, realize that all human warts, no matter where they are located on the body, are caused by a viral infection. The human papilloma virus (HPV) causes skin cells to multiply rapidly, resulting in benign growths that are more embarrassing than serious, yet are contagious.

"More than 63 types of HPV have been identified, with certain types having a predisposition for infecting particular locations of the body, including the hands, feet, scalp, or genital area," explains Johanna Baeuerle, attending dermatologist at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, New York, and consultant to Compound W non-prescription wart removal products.

As many as 40,000,000 people may carry HPV, with the majority of them below the age of 40. In children, who often are the most chronic sufferers, it typically results in cutaneous warts on the hands and plantar warts on the knees and soles of the feet. Adults who carry the HPV virus may suffer from cutaneous, plantar, or genital warts. All forms of warts are spread through direct contact with the HPV virus.

Often, the virus does not cause any visible symptoms, remaining inactive, or latent, in or on the skin. This means that many people, young and old, may have HPV without ever knowing it. "We usually start to see physical manifestations of HPV when there is an opening in the skin at the time that the person contacts HPV," Baeuerle points out. Examples would be bitten or chewed fingernails and cuticles, cracked skin, eczema, or skin that is exposed to excessive moisture, such as sweaty feet. "If you are prone to getting scrapes and cuts, as many children are, you are more likely to react to contact with HPV." Parents should be aware that this is one of the main reasons why kids are at a greater risk for developing the virus.

There are some people who may be immune to the virus, no matter how many times they come...