Genital warts
| Genital wart(s) | |
|---|---|
| Synonyms | condylomata acuminata, venereal warts, anal warts, anogenital warts |
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|
| Severe case of genital warts around the anus | |
| Classification and external resources | |
| Specialty | Infectious disease |
| ICD-10 | A63.0 |
| ICD-9-CM | 078.11 |
| DiseasesDB | 29120 |
| MedlinePlus | 000886 |
| eMedicine | derm/454 med/1037 |
| Patient UK | Genital wart |
| MeSH | C02.256.650.810.217 |
Genital warts are symptoms of a contagious sexually transmitted disease caused by some types of human papillomavirus (HPV). Warts are the most easily recognized symptom of genital HPV infection. About 90% of those who contract HPV will not develop genital warts, and the remaining 10% who are infected can transmit the virus.
HPV types 6 and 11 are most frequently the cause of genital warts. It is spread through direct skin-to-skin contact, usually during oral, genital, or anal sex with an infected partner. While some types of HPV cause cervical cancer and anal cancers, these are not the same types of HPV that cause genital warts.
Some HPV vaccines includes coverage for types 6 and 11 and therefore can prevent genital warts. It is also possible to be infected with different types of HPV either at the same or different times.
Although estimates of the number of new cases a year vary, HPV is so common that nearly all sexually active people will get it at some point in their lives. A condyloma acuminatum is a single genital wart, and condylomata acuminata are multiple genital warts. The word roots mean "pointed wart" (from Greek κόνδυλος, "knuckle", Greek -ωμα , "disease," and Latin "pointed"). Although similarly named, it is not the same as condyloma latum, which is a complication of secondary syphilis.
Genital warts may occur singly but are more often found in clusters. They may be found anywhere in the anal or genital area, and are frequently found on external surfaces of the body, including the penile shaft, scrotum, or labia majora of the vagina. They can also occur on internal surfaces like the opening to the urethra, inside the vagina, on the cervix, or in the anus.
They can be as small as 1-5mm in diameter, but can also grow or spread into large masses in the genital or anal area. In some cases they look like small stalks. They may be hard ("keratinized") or soft. Their color can be variable, and sometimes they may bleed.
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