What is Genital warts?

Genital warts

What are genital warts?

Genital warts are growths on your skin, which grow near your genitals. You can have just one wart or a lot of them.

Genital warts can be flat or lumpy, look like a cauliflower, or be on a stalk.

Source:
Kodner CM, Nasraty S.
Management of genital warts.
American Family Physician. 2004; 70: 2335-2342, 2345-2346.

¹ Warts on moist skin (such as the skin near the vagina or on the penis) are usually soft and flesh-colored. Warts that grow on dry, hairy skin may be firmer.

Genital warts can grow:

Source:
Kodner CM, Nasraty S.
Management of genital warts.
American Family Physician. 2004; 70: 2335-2342, 2345-2346.

Source:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sexually transmitted diseases guidelines 2002.
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2002; 51: 1-80. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5106.pdf (accessed on 18 July 2008).

Around the vagina
On the penis or scrotum
Around the

anus
The anus, which is at the end of the rectum, is where a stool leaves your body when you go to the bathroom. Part of the anus is a muscle that helps you hold in the stool until you are on the toilet.

anus
Around the opening of the

urethra
Your urethra is the tube that carries urine from your bladder out of your body. In a man, the urethra runs through the inside of the penis. In a woman, the urethra is shorter, and opens onto the top of the vagina.

urethra (the tube that carries urine from your bladder out of your body)
Around the nose or mouth
On the

cervix
The cervix is a piece of tissue that sits between a woman's womb and her vagina. It has a small opening in it that gets much bigger when a woman is having a baby.

cervix (the opening of the womb into the vagina)
Inside the vagina
Inside the anus (if you've had anal sex).

Genital warts are caused by a virus called human papillomavirus (HPV for short). There are nearly 100 types of HPV. But 9 in 10 people who get genital warts have been infected with HPV type 6 or type 11.

Source:
Kodner CM, Nasraty S.
Management of genital warts.
American Family Physician. 2004; 70: 2335-2342, 2345-2346.

² Some other types of HPV cause cervical cancer.

HPV spreads from one person to another by skin contact. The virus can be spread:

If you have sex (including oral sex and anal sex)
If your genitals touch your partner's genital area even if you do not have sex
If you touch your partner's genital area (for example, with your fingers)
If your partner touches you after touching his or her genitals.

You can be infected with HPV but have no symptoms. So even though you or your partner might not see any genital warts, the virus can still spread between you.

A pregant woman who is infected with HPV can also pass the virus to her child during pregnancy or birth.

There are several things that can increase your risk of being infected with HPV:

Source:
Habel LA, Van Den Eeden SK, Sherman KJ, et al.
Risk factors for incident and recurrent condylomata acuminata among women: a population-based study.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 1998; 25: 285-292.

Source:
Khanna N.
HAART use in women with HIV and influence on cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: a clinical opinion.
Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease. 2002; 6: 111-115.

⁴

Having many sexual partners
Having another

sexually transmitted infection
An infection that is spread by people having sex is called a sexually transmitted infection (STI) or a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Examples are HIV, gonorrhoea and syphilis.

sexually transmitted disease (such as

chlamydia
Chlamydia is an infection you can get by having sex without a condom. It can cause pain or discomfort and discharge from your sexual organs. If you're a woman, it can also cause infertility or a painful infection inside your body.

chlamydia)
Having a condition that affects your

immune system
The immune system is made up of the parts of the body that are devoted to fighting infection. The body is constantly being threatened by infections from things like bacteria, viruses and parasites. The immune system fights these infections in different ways. At the microscopic level, the immune system uses antibodies and white blood cells, which travel in the blood and target infectious agents, such as bacteria. These microscopic parts of the immune system either kill the infectious agent directly, or take it to other parts of the body, like the spleen, where it can be dealt with. The lymph nodes are another important part of the immune system. Within them, white blood cells filter through the foreign material that has entered the blood, to see if there are any infections. When you have a swollen gland during a cold, this is actually a lymph node that is reacting to the infection. Unfortunately, it is possible for the immune system to become confused and to use its destructive powers to target healthy parts of the body. Diseases that result from this type of situation are called autoimmune diseases.

immune system (such as

HIV
HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It's the virus that causes AIDS. It makes you sick by damaging cells called CD4 cells. Your body needs these cells to fight infections. You can get HIV by sharing needles for injecting drugs ,or by having sex without a condom with someone who already has the virus.

HIV infection and

AIDS
AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. People who are infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) get AIDS when the virus has destroyed most of their immune system. When people have AIDS, their body isn't able to fight infections. So even common infections, such as colds, can cause serious problems.

AIDS).

Using condoms whenever you have sex can reduce your risk of being infected with HPV.

Source:
Manhart LE, Koutsky LA.
Do condoms prevent genital HPV infection, external genital warts, or cervical neoplasia? A meta-analysis.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 2002; 29: 725-735.

⁵ But condoms don't give complete protection from the virus. That's because HPV spreads by skin-to-skin contact. So although some parts of the genitals are protected by a condom, not all the skin in that area is. Also, it's possible to get the virus on your fingers and spread it to another person that way.

vaccination
A vaccination is an injection a doctor can give you to protect you from getting an infectious illness (an illness that spreads between people).

vaccine to prevent genital warts has recently been developed. To read more, see A vaccine to help prevent genital warts.

Sources for the information on this page:

Kodner CM, Nasraty S.Management of genital warts.American Family Physician. 2004; 70: 2335-2342, 2345-2346.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Sexually transmitted diseases guidelines 2002.Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2002; 51: 1-80. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr5106.pdf (accessed on 18 July 2008).

Habel LA, Van Den Eeden SK, Sherman KJ, et al.Risk factors for incident and recurrent condylomata acuminata among women: a population-based study.Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 1998; 25: 285-292.

Khanna N.HAART use in women with HIV and influence on cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: a clinical opinion.Journal of Lower Genital Tract Disease. 2002; 6: 111-115.

Manhart LE, Koutsky LA.Do condoms prevent genital HPV infection, external genital warts, or cervical neoplasia? A meta-analysis.Sexually Transmitted Diseases. 2002; 29: 725-735.

This information was last updated on Jul 30, 2008

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