Genital warts

This virus is passed on through direct skin-to-skin contact with someone who has HPV on their skin. It can be passed from person to person during vaginal and anal sex. It’s also rarely passed on through oral sex.



You can get warts even if you use condoms or don’t have penetrative sex, as a condom does not cover all of the genital skin.

Symptoms

If you have genital warts, you may notice lumps or growths around your vagina, penis or anus that were not there before. However, you can carry the virus without developing actual warts.

You may develop symptoms years after you have been in contact with the virus so it isn’t possible to know when you came in contact with HPV.

It’s common for warts to appear or re-appear during pregnancy due to a change in how the immune system manages the virus.