What are virus warts?
Warts are usually benign growths of the uppermost skin layers, also known as epidermis. The Latin technical term for the wart is verruca. They are characterized by a sharply defined, flat or slightly raised growth and may be contagious.
Most warts are caused by an infection with human papilloma viruses, HPV for short. Different strains of these viruses can be responsible for the development of warts. The so-called age warts and molluscic warts, which strictly speaking do not belong to the virus warts in the narrower sense, must be distinguished from these. The seborrhoeic warts (also called seborrhoeic keratoses) are called age warts, which appear mainly from the age of 50 years and represent a keratinization disorder. Dell’s warts (Molluscum contagiosum) mainly affect children and are due to an infection with a virus from the family of smallpox viruses.
Which viruses cause warts?
Viral warts are caused by an infection with human papilloma viruses. There are more than 100 different strains of this virus, which are mainly divided into so-called high-risk and low-risk types. The high-risk papilloma viruses are significantly involved in the development of various types of cancer, including cervical cancer.
Low-risk papilloma viruses cause viral warts in particular. Infection with human papilloma viruses is one of the sexually transmitted diseases, as they are mainly transmitted during sexual intercourse. More rarely, an infection can also be caused by a smear infection.
HPV strains 1, 2, 4, 6, 10, 11, 16 and 18, but also many others, are involved in the development of viral warts. An exception are the so-called Dell’s warts, which are not caused by human papilloma viruses, but by pox viruses. The molluscum contagiosum virus penetrates through skin contact and is transmitted from person to person.
Children and young people are particularly affected by this infection. The human papilloma viruses of the low-risk group are the main causes of viral warts. Various viruses of the more than 100 low-risk virus strains can cause warts.
Since infection occurs mainly during sexual intercourse, the risk of infection increases significantly, especially with changing sexual partners and unprotected sexual intercourse. Condoms offer some, but not all, protection, as skin contact with an infected area can lead to transmission. HPV vaccination is available as a prophylaxis, which protects against a certain number of HPV strains, depending on the vaccine.
The latest available vaccine Gardasil® covers the virus strains 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58. The strains 6 and 11 are so-called low-risk viruses, which mainly cause viral warts, whereas the remaining virus strains covered by the vaccine belong to the high-risk strains that cause cancer. Human papilloma viruses infect the basal cells of the skin and mucous membrane and can remain dormant in these cells for a lifetime after infection. Even after successful treatment, recurrences are therefore still very frequent.
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