DEAR DR. GOTT: I am a 21-year-old who is sexually active with one partner who is a 21-year-old female. She was just at the gynecologist this week and informed me that she has HPV and got a PAP smear. We have been sexually active for almost two years so I am curious why this did not show up earlier on the tests if I am the one that gave it to her. If the virus was dormant (neither of us have ever had warts or any signs of HPV) would it not show up on a PAP smear? HPV doesn’t just spontaneously appear, correct? She was just in South Africa for five months and I was in the US. Could she have contracted the virus in Africa since she didn’t show signs of it before she left? I just want to be sure about whether I gave it to her or not because I want to go to the doctor if I was the one who did.
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Girlfriend diagnosed with HPV
Seed warts caused by HPV
DEAR DR. GOTT: I have read about plantar warts that your readers have. Well, I have seed warts almost over my complete back, and they have spread to other parts of my body. My grandfather also had them on his back. My back itches badly all the time. Are they inherited? Is there anything that will help me get rid of them? I have shown them to my dermatologist, and he said he could freeze them off but that was about all he could do. What do you think?
DEAR READER: Seed warts are simply common warts with black dots that originate from the blood vessels that surround them. They commonly appear on the face, fingers, soles of the feet and backs of the hands. They are contagious and caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) that enters the skin through a simple cut or crack. Latent infection can also occur in people who harbor HPV without skin trauma.
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Condyloma acuminata has more common name
DEAR DR. GOTT: Do you have any information on condyloma acuminata?
DEAR READER: This diagnosis is better known as genital warts, one of the most common types of sexually transmitted diseases, which may resemble flesh- or gray-colored bumps, or that have a cauliflower-like appearance when a number of them grow close together. The warts may itch, and there may be bleeding with intercourse. Two-thirds of all people who have sexual contact with a person who has genital warts will develop the condition, either within a few months of contact or several years later.
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