Last Updated on 18th March 2024 by Caroline Haye
Spoiler alert: NO, but here’s why some people might ask
Some bloggers like to pose intriguing questions in their titles, then take their readers on an exhaustive tour of the subject, only revealing the answer in the closing paragraph waaaayyy down the bottom of the page. I know I have done this more than a few times myself. But, as I write this, I find myself wanting to answer the question Can you catch vitiligo? simply and clearly right at the outset, rather than risk losing anyone’s attention along the way.
For one thing, I would not want anyone who didn’t already know the answer (a resounding no) to be left wondering. And for another, since most readers do already know this, it’s not as if I would be keeping them in suspense by beating about the bush. In fact, you may be wondering why, in this day and age, anyone would even ask in the first place. But there is actually more context to the question than you might think.
Why do some people mistake vitiligo for a transmissible disease?
Before judging anyone’s apparent ignorance on this subject, there are five reasons I can think of that might give someone the impression that vitiligo is a communicable disease rather than a chronic disorder…
1. They have no idea what vitiligo is
The very word vitiligo can sound pretty scary if you have never come across it before. In fact, I sometimes wonder why another, less off-putting term isn’t used instead. After all, to the uninitiated it sounds quite similar to impetigo, which is an unpleasant and highly contagious bacterial infection. Vitiligo, on the other hand, is a chronic, non-transmissible pigmentary disorder that has nothing to do with pathogens and everything to do with genetics. Perhaps adopting the more generic term leucoderma – simply meaning white skin – would be more appropriate… (Although it might then be confused with the genus of lichen called leucodermia, making matters even worse.) In any case, a person who had no prior knowledge could be forgiven for wondering if a skin condition called vitiligo might be something you could catch.
2. A natural fear of contact with visibly different skin
Whether we like to admit it or not, we human beings have an instinctive tendency to avoid contact with another person if they have a condition that noticeably affects the look of their skin. If only on a subconscious level, we fear that we might catch the same condition. In some circumstances this makes good sense. Avoidance of contact with scabies, chickenpox, shingles or MRSA, for example, is only sensible. But there is no good reason for us to fear contact with a person who has a pigmentary disorder. No more than if they had a scar, burns or birth marks. (Or even a tattoo, come to that.) And yet some people seem to make no distinction between these completely different categories of skin anomaly.
3. Historical confusion between vitiligo and leprosy
Of all the skin conditions that have literally plagued the human race through the ages, leprosy (or Hansen’s disease) was certainly among the most feared and stigmatised. This incurable bacterial infection was known to be contagious. (Though not as easily transmitted as most people believed it to be.) And, until effective treatments were developed, contracting it was virtually a death sentence, not to mention a one-way ticket to exile from the rest of society… So much so, that the term leper became synonymous with rejection and social expulsion. Historically, people often confused vitiligo with leprosy because loss of skin pigment is one of the signs of Hansen’s disease. (And this happens even to this day in some cultures and regions.) But this is where any similarity between the two conditions begins and ends.
4. The fact that vitiligo can run in families
It is not uncommon for vitiligo to affect other family members. So perhaps the misconception that it might be possible to catch it is not too hard to understand after all. But, of course, it is completely misplaced. In reality, the familial link is a purely genetic one… Meaning that approximately 30% of people with the condition will have a family history of vitiligo based on the fact that they share a common genetic anomaly. Not that it is as simple as that. In fact, genetics are just one of many possible factors that contribute to an individual developing vitiligo. (See What Causes Vitiligo? for more on this.)
5. A misunderstanding of the term Contact Vitiligo
Another possible reason why someone might mistakenly believe that vitiligo was contagious is if they had come across the term contact vitiligo and misunderstood its meaning. Also known as chemical or occupational vitiligo, the contact referred to is not person to person contact. It is contact with environmental triggers such as certain chemicals. (In exactly the same way as the term contact dermatitis refers to reactions resulting from direct contact with certain skin irritants.)
More often than not, contact vitiligo affects totally unrelated individuals apparently at random. (That is, unless they work together and their work brings them into contact with the same harmful substances.) However, a few months ago I received a message from a new Vitiligo Store customer whose experience seemed at first not to fit these facts…
A husband and wife who developed vitiligo at the same time
When I first heard from Ashley I was surprised by what she told me. Her message began with these words: “My husband and I both have vitiligo. We got it about 10 years ago at the same time…” Well, – knowing that you can’t catch vitiligo and that these two individuals were not blood relatives, this really intrigued me. So I emailed Ashley back, asking if she and her husband had been in contact with any harsh chemicals around that time, to which she very kindly replied with the following…
“Hi Caroline – I would love to share our journey!
“We both woke up one weekend about 10 years ago and noticed a few white spots on our hands. I was 8 months pregnant with our oldest.
“We bought an older house and have done a complete remodel so maybe it could have been contact vitiligo. (Neither of us have any auto-immune that we know of.)
“My husband got his first spot on his ankle when he was younger but nothing more came of it.
“We went to a derm doc and he said nothing we could do about it… Wear 100spf sunscreen and stay out of the sun.
“I wasn’t having it – I did some research and switched derm docs. He started us both on steroid injections and told us to get moderate sun exposure. He was fairly confident we could get some back. We both also use Opzelura cream, but with it being on our hands it is hard to get the creams to work as we both work in healthcare and wash our hands a lot.
“I did a lot of research on supplements. Between those and the injections my husband has gotten quite a bit of pigment back. I do not do the injections as I got negative side effects from it…”
When it comes to vitiligo, there are no stupid questions
Those of us who have lived with vitiligo for any length of time understand that it is a complex condition that often seems to pose more questions than answers. (If you doubt this, take a look at Why Vitiligo Is So Confusing.) More often than not, the answers to questions like What causes vitiligo? or Why does vitiligo appear in particular places on the body? read more like a multiple choice quiz than anything else. This is because there is no single definitive answer that applies to every case. However, there is at least one simple question that has a simple answer. And that is the one we have explored above… Question: Can you catch vitiligo? Answer: NO.
But, just because we know this to be true doesn’t mean that everyone else does… Which is why I wanted to share the reasons why someone might ask it. So, next time you get what seems like an ignorant or insulting question from anyone about your vitiligo (which can occasionally happen), my advice is to take a deep breath and try your best to educate them on the subject without making them feel too bad for asking. Because, when it comes to vitiligo, there are no stupid questions – even if it seems at first like the person asking it might be. 😉
