Genital Wart Question

[Bobby321]

Hi,

I have two very brief questions -

1. I have recently been diagnosed with Genital Warts, didnt realise as warts were very small and I guess did not check for them very often, I was in a relationship for three months, while I had the warts and had unprotected sex numerous times, relationship ended and im pretty sure i did not get from that particular partner, so because I had warts will she have them to if she was not immune from the particular strain or wahtever?

2. Is it rare for warts to appear on the head of the penis near the opening, as i have a tiny red blemish that looks slightly raised appear recently, would you presume its the same thing?

Thank you

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

The transmission chance from a single exposure is less than with many ones, but still quite high.  Your second partner definitely is at risk and should be on the lookout for warts.

Don't be so hard on yourself.  It doesn't seem you were irresponsible.  Even if you thought something might be wrong but weren't sure for a few days before your diagnosis, the human mind is capable of incredible denial.  It sounds to me that you did not intentionally or irresponsibly expose either partner.  Certainly you are behaving responsibly now.  HPV is an impersonal virus, not a mark of immorality.  (Same for all STDs.)

[Bobby321]

Thank you very much for your prompt reply, the answers are pretty much what i expected! I dont know if you will reply to another question but i will ask anyway -

3. A one off unprotected encounter happened very shortly after and before i was diagnosed, I know the person extremely well and of course will tell her about my little problem, but is she at such a high risk as it was only one night?

Just to add i have had many sleepless nights massively worrying about this, i know its my fault for being so irresponsible etc etc etc, but is this something that i am going to have to carry forever, it kind of feels like i am now a lepar and no one will want to touch me if they know...Anyway ....

Kindest Regards and thanks for all your help

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

You ask reasonable questions.  Straight to them:

1) Clearly your partner was exposed to your HPV infection when you were highly contagious.  If she happened to have been infected previously with the same HPV type that caused your warts, she probably was immune.  But most likely she became infected with your HPV strain.  However, not all infected people will develop visible warts.  For these reasons (and simply out of kindness) you should contact your former partner and tell her about your infection.  If she has noticed nothing wrong, it's up to her whether to visit her health care provider to check it out.  She also should speak to her provider about getting the HPV vaccine (Gardasil) to prevent future infections with the most common wart-causing and cancer-causing HPV types.

2) Warts can appear anywhere on the penis, including the head and near the opening, but they usually are not red in color.  There are small glands that appear normally near the urethral opening, one on each side.  These periurethral glands can sometimes appear as a red bump, not noticed until someone starts examining himself closely.  However, I cannot make any diagnosis from a distance.  If you're pretty sure the red bump is new, you should return to the provider who diagnosed your warts and check it out.  If you still have left over wart medication (for example, if you were treated with Condylox or Aldara), do not be tempted to treat yourself without knowing for sure that it's a wart.

I hope this helps.  Best wishes--  HHH, MD