Genital warts are a sexually transmitted infection caused by certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV). They are generally pink in color and project out from the surface of the skin. Usually they cause few symptoms, but can occasionally be painful. Typically they appear one to eight months following exposure. Warts are the most easily recognized symptom of genital HPV infection.HPV types 6 and 11 are responsible for causing majority of genital warts whereas HPV types 16, 18, 31, 33, and 35 are also occasionally found. It is spread through direct skin-to-skin contact, usually during oral, genital, or anal sex with an infected partner. Diagnosis is generally based on symptoms and can be confirmed by biopsy. The types of HPV that cause cancer are not the same as those that cause warts.Some HPV vaccines can prevent genital warts as may condoms. Treatment options include creams such as podophyllin, imiquimod, and trichloroacetic acid. Cryotherapy or surgery may also be an option. After treatment warts often resolve within six months. Without treatment, in up to a third of cases they resolve on their own.About 1% of people in the United States have genital warts. Many people, however, are infected and do not have symptoms. Without vaccination nearly all sexually active people will get some type of HPV at one point in their lives. The disease has been known at least since the time of Hippocrates in 300 BC.
The effect of condoms on HPV transmission may also be sex-dependent; there is some evidence that condoms are more effective at preventing infection of males than of females.The types of HPV that cause warts are highly transmissible. Roughly three out of four unaffected partners of patients with warts develop them within eight months. Other studies of partner concordance suggest that the presence of visible warts may be an indicator of increased infectivity; HPV concordance rates are higher in couples where one partner has visible warts. Latency and recurrence
Although 90% of HPV infections are cleared by the body within two years of infection, it is possible for infected cells to undergo a latency (quiet) period, with the first occurrence or a recurrence of symptoms happening months or years later. Latent HPV, even with no outward symptoms, is still transmissible to a sexual partner. If an individual has unprotected sex with an infected partner, there is a 70% chance that he or she will also become infected.In individuals with a history of previous HPV infection, the appearance of new warts may be either from a new exposure to HPV, or from a recurrence of the previous infection. As many as one-third of people with warts will experience a recurrence. Children
Anal or genital warts may be transmitted during birth. The presence of wart-like lesions on the genitals of young children has been suggested as an indicator of sexual abuse. However, genital warts can sometimes result from autoinoculation by warts elsewhere on the body, such as from the hands.