Last Updated on July 29, 2021 by Stacy Sampson, DO
Genital Warts STI/STD Brief
These briefs are intended to give readers (specifically those who weren’t aware many of these STIs/STDs existed) an overview of each STI/STD, their commonality, treatment options, and diagnostic tests available.
This information is by no means all-encompassing and The STI Project encourages using these briefs as primers and then further delving into the resources section when subsequent questions arise.
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Genital Warts Symptoms, Test & Treatment
Common? Quite common – Around 500,000 to 1 million people contract it in the U.S. annually
Symptoms Flesh-colored, soft-to-the-touch bumps on the skill which may look like the surface of cauliflower. Usually, painless, but may itch. Can be on the vagina, vulva, cervix, penis, anus, or urethra. Sometimes, but less likely, in the mouth, on the lips, tongue, palate, or in the throat
Cure? Often, the body fights the virus and they go away on their own. They can be frozen off, burned off, lasered off, or injected with medication. There are also some medications that can be used at home. For some, the warts return after treatment and even after long periods of time.
Bacterial/Viral/ Fungal/Parasitic Viral
Test Pelvic exam – must see healthcare provider
Life-Long? Maybe
Life-Threatening? No
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References
- Symptoms
- Chow, Eric PF, et al. “Ongoing decline in genital warts among young heterosexuals 7 years after the Australian human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme.” Sex Transm Infect 91.3 (2015): 214-219.
- Suligoi, Barbara, et al. “Prevalence and incidence of external genital warts in a sample of Italian general female population.” BMC infectious diseases 17.1 (2017): 126.
- Bartels, Anne, Michael Crandall, and Leah Spring. “Recalcitrant genital papules: this patient was initially told he had genital warts, but the appearance of the lesions, and the presence of a rash on his trunk and extremities, suggested another diagnosis.” Journal of Family Practice 66.7 (2017): 457-461.
- Schöfer, Helmut, et al. “Sinecatechins and imiquimod as proactive sequential therapy of external genital and perianal warts in adults.” International journal of STD & AIDS 28.14 (2017): 1433-1443.
- Edwards, Sarah K. “Genital rash (including warts and infestations).” Medicine 46.6 (2018): 325-330.
- Testing
- Aung, Ei T., et al. “Detection of human papillomavirus in urine among heterosexual men in relation to location of genital warts and circumcision status.” Sex Transm Infect 94.3 (2018): 222-225.
- Boda, Daniel, et al. “HPV strain distribution in patients with genital warts in a female population sample.” Oncology letters 12.3 (2016): 1779-1782.
- Hu, Zhili, et al. “Dynamics of HPV viral loads reflect the treatment effect of photodynamic therapy in genital warts.” Photodiagnosis and photodynamic therapy 21 (2018): 86-90.
- Thomas, Réjean, et al. “P3. 189 Recurrence of human papillomavirus external genital wart infection among high-risk adults in montrÉal, quÉbec.” (2017): A163-A163.
- Zhu, Cansheng, et al. “Prevalence and distribution of HPV types in genital warts in Xi’an, China: a prospective study.” BMJ open 9.5 (2019): e023897.
- Treatment
- Park, Ina U., Camille Introcaso, and Eileen F. Dunne. “Human papillomavirus and genital warts: a review of the evidence for the 2015 centers for disease control and prevention sexually transmitted diseases treatment guidelines.” Clinical Infectious Diseases 61.suppl_8 (2015): S849-S855.
- Yuan, Jianwei, et al. “Genital warts treatment: beyond imiquimod.” Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics 14.7 (2018): 1815-1819.
- Abu-Naser, Samy S., and Mones M. Al-Hanjori. “An expert system for men genital problems diagnosis and treatment.” (2016).
- Firooz, A., et al. “The efficacy and safety of other cryotherapy compounds for the treatment of genital warts: a randomized controlled trial.” Journal of Dermatological Treatment 30.2 (2019): 176-178.
- Das, Suchibrata, et al. “Auto-wart inoculation: An easy and effective treatment of multiple, recalcitrant and genital warts.” Journal of Pakistan Association of Dermatology 26.3 (2017): 229-234.
- Prevention
- Park, Ina U., Camille Introcaso, and Eileen F. Dunne. “Human papillomavirus and genital warts: a review of the evidence for the 2015 centers for disease control and prevention sexually transmitted diseases treatment guidelines.” Clinical Infectious Diseases 61.suppl_8 (2015): S849-S855.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Epidemiology and prevention of vaccine-preventable diseases.” Washington DC Public Health Foundation 2 (2015): 20-2.
- Stanley, Margaret. “Preventing cervical cancer and genital warts–How much protection is enough for HPV vaccines?.” Journal of Infection 72 (2016): S23-S28.
- Sharma, M., S. Sy, and J. J. Kim. “The value of male human papillomavirus vaccination in preventing cervical cancer and genital warts in a low‐resource setting.” BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology 123.6 (2016): 917-926.
- Steben, Marc. “A Very Common Intimate Concern:“Will My Genital Warts Ever Stop Recurring?”.” (2018): 682-684.
- Transmission
- Chow, Eric Pui Fung, et al. “Ratio of anogenital warts between different anatomical sites in homosexual and heterosexual individuals in Australia, 2002–2013: implications for susceptibility of different anatomical sites to genital warts.” Epidemiology & Infection 143.7 (2015): 1495-1499.
- Mohammed, Hamish, et al. “Increase in sexually transmitted infections among men who have sex with men, England, 2014.” Emerging infectious diseases 22.1 (2016): 88.
- Ma, Liang, et al. “Distribution of human papillomavirus genotypes (2014–2016) in women with genital warts at a sexually transmitted disease clinic in Beijing, China.” Future Virology 13.2 (2018): 111-117.
- Schöfer, Helmut, et al. “Sinecatechins and imiquimod as proactive sequential therapy of external genital and perianal warts in adults.” International journal of STD & AIDS 28.14 (2017): 1433-1443.
- Grennan, Dara. “Genital Warts.” Jama 321.5 (2019): 520-520.
Josh
I really learned my lesson the hard way by having to suffer from this condition. Your blog is very informative and you are right to mention that it is not life-threatening.
Jenelle Marie
I’m so glad to hear your found it informative! Thanks for the positive feedback!