Genital warts is a symptom of some types of Human Pappillomaviruses, these viruses 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. One infected it can take anything from a few monhts to several years befoer you notice any symptoms. During this period, you will not notice any warts and you may not even be aware that you are infected.
Genital warts are caused by the 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. The vaccine is despite this very usefull since these two strains are the most common and the casue of 90% of all genital warts.
The vaccine is only useful if taken before you get infected and it is therefore good to get vaccinated as early in the puberty as possible. In many countries, parents are encouraged to have their daughters vaccinated during early puberty. The vaccine is in most countries not approved for use on genital warts in men, it has however been approved for us in men in the UK after studies showed that it was safe to allow.
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 do not cure the infection the itself the warts will come back again later after 50-75% of all treatments. 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 typically appear inside and outside the vagina, at the opening to the womb, and/or around the anus. 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. Men and women alike can develop warts in the throat or mouth after oral sex.
