subject: Genital Warts Cause - How Did I Get Genital Warts? [print this page] More than 25 million Americans have genital warts, so if you have received a diagnosis from your doctor, the first thing you should realize is that you are not alone. There is no reason to feel ashamed or even different. This is a condition that many people will manage for the rest of the lives. The good news is that there are plenty of treatments that minimize the flare-ups and breakouts of genital warts. The more you can reduce the symptoms and prevent breakouts, the less you will notice them in your life at all.
But now you may be wondering, what causes genital warts? The main cause is something called human papillomavirus. This is a virus that is spread from person to person, through skin to skin contact. There are many different forms of human papillomavirus. Some forms cause minor skin warts on fingers, toes, hands and feet. Some forms can lead to polyps or growths in the uterus that may eventually cause pre-cancerous cells to grow. If you have been diagnosed with human papillomavirus of any sort, you must keep in close contact with your doctor to make sure you are properly managing the implications, side effects, or symptoms that arise as a result of contacting the virus.
There are many ways in which the human papillomavirus and genital warts are spread from person to person. Exchange of saliva allows the virus to transmit, as does blood. Human papillomavirus can be spread through shared needles and blood transfusions. But that's not all. The virus also moves through air intact, so sometimes it can be transmitted through coughs, inhalation of the virus and touching of surfaces where the virus has been deposited.
But these last two methods of transmission are not as common. More often, the most common way genital warts are spread is through intimate physical contact. A pregnant woman can pass genital warts on to the baby growing inside her. And genital warts are often spread through sexual contact. One infected partner can pass the virus on to the uninfected partner whether or not he or she is having an outbreak. The routes genital warts can pass through are vaginal, oral, and anal. Genital warts do not discriminate and they spread quite often amongst all kinds of sexual partners. Be sure to ask your partner if he or she has been diagnosed before engaging in sexual activity. This will help protect you from contracting genital warts.
