Verrucas are contagious, and understanding how they spread is the first step toward effective prevention. These common skin lesions, which appear most often on the soles of the feet, are a type of infection transmitted through both direct and indirect contact.
What Exactly Is a Verruca?
A verruca, also known as a plantar wart, is a small, rough growth on the sole of the foot caused by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Specific, non-cancer-causing types of HPV infect the skin’s outer layer, the epidermis. This infection causes epithelial cells to grow and thicken excessively, creating the visible, benign lump.
The location on the weight-bearing surface of the foot causes the verruca to be pushed inward, making it flatter and sometimes more painful than a common wart found elsewhere. They often appear as a flat, white, or flesh-colored area, sometimes with tiny black dots in the center. These dots are actually small clotted blood vessels.
Understanding Contagion: How Verrucas Spread
The contagious nature of a verruca stems from the shedding of skin cells that contain the Human Papillomavirus particles. For the virus to cause a new infection, it needs to enter a new host’s skin through a break in the protective barrier. This breach can be a small cut, a scrape, or a micro-abrasion.
Transmission occurs primarily through direct skin-to-skin contact or, more commonly, indirectly through contaminated surfaces. The HPV is robust and can survive for extended periods, particularly in moist and warm areas. This makes places like communal showers, swimming pool decks, locker room floors, and public changing rooms high-risk environments for contracting the virus. When an infected person walks barefoot, they shed virus-containing skin cells onto the ground, which can then be picked up by another person.
Damp skin is more permeable and susceptible to infection, which explains the high transmission rate in wet environments. A person can also spread the virus to other areas of their own body, a process called autoinoculation, often by scratching or picking at the growth.
Essential Steps for Preventing Spread
Proactive measures are highly effective in limiting the transmission of verrucas to others and preventing self-spread to uninfected areas of the body. The simplest action is to create a physical barrier between the verruca and the environment, which significantly reduces the shedding of viral particles. If you have a verruca, always cover it with a waterproof plaster or a specialized verruca sock when swimming or using public wet areas.
Maintaining excellent foot hygiene is another practical defense, which involves washing feet regularly and drying them completely, as the virus thrives in damp conditions. In public spaces, you should avoid walking barefoot by wearing flip-flops or sandals in communal showers, changing rooms, and around pools. This prevents direct contact with potentially contaminated floors. It is also important to avoid sharing personal items that come into contact with the feet, such as towels, shoes, or socks.
Finally, refrain from scratching, picking, or filing the verruca, as this action can release more virus particles and increase the risk of autoinoculation or transmission to others. Covering any cuts or scratches on the feet with a dressing is an added layer of protection, as broken skin provides the easiest entry point for the virus.