HPV and Genital Warts

Genital warts are caused by certain types of the HPV (human papillomavirus) and are highly contagious. There is a 70% risk of getting infected if you have unprotect sex with a partner that has genital warts. The HPV virus uses microscopic abrasions that are formed during sex to penetrate the skin and infect a person. After infection, a latency period that lasts from just a few months to several years is common. It is therefore possible to be infected for a long with knowing about it.

Genital warts can be caused by the following HPV strains 6, 11, 30, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, 52 and 54. There is a vaccine called gardasil available on the market but is only effective against strain 6 and 11 as well as 16 and 18 that do not cause genital warts but can cause cervical cancer. However, the HPV-vaccine is still highly useful since HPV type 6 and 11 are the culprits behind 90% of all genital warts cases.

The vaccine has to be administered prior to infection so the safest course of action is to make sure that you are vaccinated prior to engaging in any type of oral, genital or anal sex. Parents are encouraged to make sure their daughters are vaccinated during early puberty in many countries. In most parts of the world the vaccine is still not approved for preventing genital warts in men, but studies are currently being carried out and the United Kingdom has already approved it for use in young men.

If you have become infected with genital warts treatments are available that will remove the warts themselves, but the virus will remain in your body. Since genital warts treatment does not remove the HPV virus, the warts can come back later and will do so in about 50-75% of all cases. Interestingly enough, new studies using DNA techniques have shown that the immune system can clear the virus or suppress it to levels below what polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests can detect.

Genital warts in women usually can be founn around the anus as well as around and inside the vagina up to the opening of the womb. Oral sex with an infected partner can cause warts to form in the mouth and throat. the symptoms in men are usually less severe but warts can appear around the anus and on the entire penis. Just like women, men can develop warts in the mouth and throat after oral sex with an infected partner.