Can You Contract Genital Herpes Through Your Hand?

Genital Warts are a viral infection -Human papillomavirus (HPV). There are more than 100 types of HPV, only some of them produce warts in the genital area. Some of the types causing genital warts also increase the risk for cervical and other cancers.

Women can acquire several types of the HPV virus. When infected with more than one type, the risk of cervical cancer increases. Pap smears are extremely important in individuals at risk (those who start sexual intercourse at a young age or have many partners).

While that sounds serious, most of the papilloma viruses cause no damage at all.

Common warts on the hands and feet are also caused by the human papilloma virus but there is not believed to be cross reactivity where hand warts spread to the genital area, or do genital warts spreading to hands or feet.

In most cases genital warts (also called condyloma) can be eliminated with proper treatment by a doctor and careful follow-up. There is no treatment for HPV itself, although in many cases the body clears the virus on its own. Maintaining a healthy life style with proper diet and sleep helps to reduce the risk of aquiring the virus, and the severity of lesions.

Once a person is infected, the virus remains in the body for life. It is estimated that over 50% of sexually active adults are carriers, with men and women being equally affected. The risk of being a carrier rises with the number of sexual partners.

In men they occur within the urethra (tube from the bladder) and on the shaft of the penis. In women, the warts occur on the vulva, the vaginal wall, the cervix and the genital area in general.