HPV (human papillomavirus) is sexually transmitted disease and occurs in 50% of sexually active adults. It is as well known as genital warts or venereal warts. Actually, HPV is a serious disease. It should be in addition mentioned that there are over a hundred known strains of HPV, some are low-risk that can cause warts, others are high-risk and they are known to cause the dreaded cervical cancer in addition to anal and other genital cancers.

The other vital aspect of this disease that you should be familiar with is that HPV is transmitted through contact with the skin or mucosal membrane of an infected individual during sexual activity. A latency stage may take place for months or even years from onset of the infection in which no symptom is evident.

What are the symptoms?

Well, genital warts are lumps that, in point of fact, may vary in appearance. The point is that most of warts are flesh or gray in color, often round, sometimes cauliflower in shape, and, as well, may be varied in size. It is as well significant to point out that sometimes the bumps are hardly noticeable because of the fact that they can be even smaller than the tip of a ballpoint pen.

As concerning women, it should be mentioned that the growths may appear on the vulva, in the walls of vagina or inside the cervix while talking about men, there is a need to mention that they generally occur on the tip and sometimes the shaft of the penis, or on the scrotum. It will be useful for you to know that the growth can likewise happen inside and on the periphery of the anus, in the area of the groin, and the inner thighs in both women and men. Thought t happens quite rarely, but still it is worth to mention that the warts can even appear in the mouth or inside the throat as caused by oral sex with a carrier of the disease.

This is a very unpleasant disease since the warts may cause itching and irritation in the areas where they occur. They may as well cause bleeding during sexual intercourse. The other negative feature of this condition is that warts may weaken the walls of the vagina and compromise its stretchability which is important to childbirth.

The further important fact to take into consideration is that sometimes an infected mother may transmit the virus to her child during natural vaginal birth. Talking about these cases it should be added that the infected baby may develop growth in the airway, a condition called respiratory papillomatosis. As you understand this is a hazardous situation that may even call for a surgical incision in order to get rid of the airway blockage.

So, now you comprehend what genital warts and their most important symptoms are. The second part of this article is devoted to the most frequent misdiagnosis.

First of all you need to understand that it is really vital to know the signs of genital warts as there are a few diseases with similar symptoms that are generally mistaken for venereal warts. Actually, there are somewhat similar lesions called hirsuties papillaris genitalis in men and vestibular papillae of the vulva in women that are actually benign though atypical skin conditions.

It will be useful for you to find out that the other widespread skin condition called Fordyce spots can be observed on the penis or vulva and may likewise be mistaken for warts. As well, it is important to point out that there is a viral infection known as molluscum contagiosum. It is sexually transmitted disease in adults and shows comparable pearly lesions in the genital area. It should be stated here that this disease is less risky than venereal warts.

How to Cure?

As it was already mentioned, genital warts can infrequently cause irritation, itching and bleeding. As well, they are seen as consistent source of embarrassment accordingly a lot of persons pick to have them removed. In order to do this prescription topical medications can be used. It is additionally principal for you to take into account that there are doctor-performed procedures, for instance, cauterization, surgical incision, cryosurgery and laser removal. The point is that taking out genital warts does not guarantee elimination of the viral infection. Thus, the warts may clear altogether after treatment or reappear or even worsen over time.

Read more about genital warts in men and genital warts in women on the genital warts.