Why Genital HPV is Considered to be a Sexually Transmitted Disease

The human papilloma virus at its best is contagious and this hasn’t changed for the genital HPV strains. It is a highly contagious infection which can be passed from person to person very easily, especially if it manifests itself as genital warts.

That’s why genital HPV is considered to be a sexually transmitted disease. And since genital warts spread through skin contact with an infected area, the use of condoms may not be sufficient barrier against the spread of the infection as a condom won’t necessarily cover the entire infected area.

This is the reason why genital HPV can spread through oral, anal and vaginal sex. If your partner is infected by HPV and your skin comes into contact with the affected areas, you can become infected yourself. This is also the reason why a very few people will get HPV in the throat after having oral sex with an infected partner. This is known as laryngeal papilloma.

The same is true for newborn babies. If the mother is infected with genital HPV especially in the birth canal, there is a possibility for the newly born baby to come into contact with the infection. In some cases newborns will go on to develop laryngeal papilloma.

It should also be noted I think, that there are two differing schools of thought on whether genital HPV is contagious if it shows no physical signs in the form of genital warts. While some people believe that genital HPV isn’t contagious when there is no physical manifestation of it, others find that the evidence is inconclusive to make a decision

Personally speaking though, I find that it always pays to be careful and if you suspect that either you or your partner have genital warts, then all steps should be taken to contain the genital HPV infection, and you should ideally, both of you seek medical attention.
by: Muna wa Wanjiru

Muna wa Wanjiru is a web administrator and Has Been Researching and Reporting on Curing Genital Warts for Years. For More Information on Genital HPV, Visit His Site at Genital HPV