00:02
Continuing our discussion of sexually transmitted infections,
we turn now to genital warts.
00:09
This is a predominantly sexually transmitted cutaneous infection
of stratified squamous epithelium
in the genital areas due to any of several strains of a virus
called human papilloma virus.
00:25
This is a pretty severe problem,
especially because we don’t have any real good therapy for it
and it results in several million genital HPV infections a year.
00:41
The most common age group infected are those in the sexually active years
between 15 and 44.
00:50
We’re talking about 20 million in the United States infected,
and this is a very contagious type of viral infection.
00:59
The prevalence of anogenital warts is called condyloma acuminata,
to be distinguished from condylomalata.
01:12
In the general population, it’s 0.2 to 5 percent.
01:16
Among males 18 to 59, about 4 percent.
01:22
In females, 7.2 percent.
01:25
And the disease is increasing in incidence.
01:29
Approximately 500,000 persons a year are infected by this problem.
01:34
The virus that causes human papilloma virus infection
belongs to the Papillomaviridae family.
01:43
It is widely distributed in higher vertebrates,
and it’s a non-envelope double-stranded DNA virus.
01:53
It’s got a pretty simple circular genome about 8 kB in length,
55 nanometers in diameter,
and it’s dependent on the host cell for replication, transcription, and translation.
02:14
Now, you may have heard of the association of human papilloma virus
and cervical carcinoma,
and that is indeed a bad problem.
02:23
We’ve developed a vaccine for that problem.
02:26
But the types that cause these genital warts
are the low-risk HPV types 6, 11, and 42 through 44.
02:38
These are the ones that cause the warts.
02:41
This virus has a tropism for squamous epithelium
and it is the cause of warts and genital warts.