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Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2003;157:490.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The authors of the recent report of the effectiveness of duct tape in the treatment of warts in children postulated that local irritation from the duct tape may have stimulated an immune response that led to wart resolution.¹ The observation that, in some cases, distant, untreated warts also resolved with the duct tape intervention suggests a systemic immune response. There is precedent for local therapy (intralesional injection of warts with mumps or Candida antigen) to produce resolution not just of the treated wart but also of distant, untreated warts, presumably through a systemic immune response.²

Immune response, however, is influenced by myriad factors, including psychological ones. During the last decade, psychological modulation of immune function has been extensively documented.³ The effects of psychological stress can be substantial, impairing the ability to generate an adequate immune response against viral pathogens and increasing the duration of cutaneous wound healing by almost 25%.⁴ . . . [Full Text of this Article]