Contagious: Human Papillomavirus
| About contagion: Contagion and contagiousness refers to how easily the spread of Human Papillomavirus is possible from one person to another. Other words for contagion include "infection", "infectiousness", "transmission" or "transmissability". Contagiousness has nothing to do with genetics or inheriting diseases from parents. For an overview of contagion, see Introduction to Contagion. |
Contagion summary: The types of HPV that infect the genital area are spread primarily through sexual contact. Most HPV infections have no signs or symptoms; therefore, most infected persons are completely unaware they are infected, yet they can transmit the virus to a sex partner. Rarely, pregnant women can pass HPV to their baby during vaginal delivery. A newborn that is exposed to HPV during delivery can develop warts in the larynx (voice box). 1
Genital warts are very
contagious and are spread during oral, genital, or anal sex with an
infected partner. About two-thirds of people who have sexual contact
with a partner with genital warts will develop warts, usually within
three months of contact. 2
Footnotes:
1. excerpt from HPV: DSTD
2. excerpt from Human Papillomavirus and Genital Warts, NIAID Fact Sheet: NIAID
Medical Tools & Articles:
Next articles:
Medical Articles: