Human Papillomavirus

• Human papillomavirus causes genital warts. More than 100 strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) exist. Two particular types of HPV---HPV-6 and HPV-11---cause 9 in 10 cases of genital warts.
  
  

Sexual Contact

• Getting genital warts depends on skin-to-skin sexual contact with an infected person's genitals or anus. Rarely, HPV can be transmitted by having oral sex with an infected person. Two out of three people who have sex with a person infected with HPV will develop genital warts.
  
  

Misconceptions

• Warts on the hands, feet and other areas of the body are not caused by the same types of HPV that cause genital warts.
  
  

Severity

• The more serious strains of HPV that cause cervical, vulvar, vaginal, anal and penile cancer are not the same strains that cause genital warts.
  
  

Symptoms

• Genital warts generally cause no symptoms. Even though genital warts are asymptomatic, a person can still pass them to a partner during sexual contact.