Genital warts - Signs & Symptoms
Transmission
Genital warts are very contagious and very often transmitted sexually during oral, vaginal, or anal sex with an infected partner. It is also possible to get infected by skin-to-skin contact with an infected individual.
People who are infected but showing symptoms can still spread HPV to their sexual partner or develop complications from the virus.
Signs and Symptoms
Although genital warts are painless, infected individuals can feel discomfort due to the location of the warts, their size, or itching. Often, however, genital warts cause no symptoms or they may be so small that they can't be seen with the naked eye. If you are infected but have no symptoms, you can still spread HPV to your sexual partner and/or develop complications from the virus. Pregnancy may sometimes trigger a dormant infection, or an active infection may worsen during pregnancy.
The signs and symptoms of genital warts include the following:
- small, flesh-colored or gray bumps in the genital area. .The size of the warts may range from less than one millimeter across to several square centimeters when many warts join together in a cauliflower-like pattern.
- itching and discharge
- rarely, bleeding or urinary obstruction when the wart grows in the urethral opening.
- genital warts can develop in the mouth or throat after having oral sex with an infected person.