The first step to understanding the different genital warts types is understanding first what genital warts exactly are. There is one type of warts, called venereal warts, which is not a type of genital warts and belongs to a distinct type all its own. But all types of genital warts are transmitted via sexual intercourse. They usually get transferred through direct skin exposure in vaginal, anal, or even oral sex with an infected person. There is also the possibility of transmitting some genital warts types to newborn babies through childbirth.
There are different genital warts types because there are also different strains of the human papillomavirus, which causes the warts. Some HPV strains cause warts on the patient's hands and feet instead of warts on the genital area. In the subject of sexually transmitted diseases, genital warts are one of the most common of all. According to scientists, the number of new genital warts cases each year reach approximately six million.
Effects of Genital Warts Types
Genital warts usually affect the areas of the genital region that are naturally moist. They crop up first as small bumps that are flesh or red in color, and they eventually escalate into a cluster that looks like a cauliflower if they are not given immediate medical attention. Different genital warts types can come in one to two diameter sizes, and larger, especially when they start multiplying and forming clusters. There are some reported cases when genital warts disappear by themselves.
Women are usually affected by genital warts in the vulva, the vaginal walls, the anus or the area between it and the external genitalia, and even the uterus' neck. As for men, the most common genital warts appear on the tip of the penis, the anus, or the scrotum. In case of transmission through oral sex, genital warts can also appear in the throat or mouth.
Types of Virus
There are more than a hundred types of papillomaviruses that affect humans. Of this number, almost half tend to cause genital warts in both genders. These viruses also come in subgroups that can trigger symptoms leading to cervical cancer or uterine cancer. Several other types of cancer that affect the anogenital area of women are often traced back to HPV.
Specifically, HPV strains 6, 11, 16, and 18 are the types of human papillomviruses that affect the anogenital region, although some other types may also bring similar effects. The common effects, genital warts and dysplasia of the cervix, are often linked closely to strains 6 and 11, which are less dangerous. There are, however, the 16 and 18 types of HPV, which can lead not just to genital warts types and extreme cases of cervical dysplasia, but also to cervical and other related cancers.
