Reply

In the document, Dr. James E. Rasmussen responds to criticisms by Alexander and Schor regarding the Task Force on Pediatric Dermatology's statement on genital warts in children. Rasmussen argues that the guidelines proposed by Alexander and Schor are not entirely based on scientific fact but rather on personal opinion. He points out that there are many unanswered questions about the transmission of genital warts, and due to the lack of consensus among Task Force members, they could not establish a rigid rule for referral. Instead, the Task Force recommends discussing the possibility of sexual abuse with the parents of every child with genital warts and referring many cases to child protective agencies. Additionally, the document mentions a case report of a 58-year-old woman with noncicatricial scalp alopecia presumably attributed to occult syringomas, a rare cause of hair loss.