Anal warts

I have been searching for information on the spread of anal warts and have only found generic asnwers such as "sexual contact".  I'm hoping you can provide a more specific answer.  Namely, if one's partner has anal warts, but none visible on his penis, does penile contact pose a possibility of spreading the virus?  And if so, how great a risk?  In addition, if one has warts on,in, the anus does one suppose the development of them on the penis as well?

In short, can an infected person with anal warts engage in anal sex (as the "top") without the risk of spreading the warts to the partner?

Thanks.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Tim:

A good question, hard to answer.

In general, genital warts are called, "venereal," even though not all of them are transmitted that way, and it's impossible to prove in most cases which ones were.  I have many patients with penile warts, for instance, whose long-term partners never got them, despite regular examinations.

For the speicific question you ask, I think the risk of transmission is low, though I guess no one can say it's zero.

I'm sure you're wondering: "Well, of they aren't from sex, what are warts from?"  The answer is, "I don't know."  Almost everybody gets warts at some point--on fingers, on the face, on the feet, etc.--yet almost never is someone in their vicinity infected.  Go figure.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff