As the incidence of female genital warts is increasing year by year, it is very necessary to understand its transmission routes. The main transmission routes are as follows:
(1) Transmission through sexual contact: This is the main route of transmission. According to research, 2/3 of people who have sexual contact with patients with genital warts may develop the disease. The disease is most contagious when it lasts for an average of 3.5 months, so people who are sexually promiscuous are most susceptible to the disease. In addition, it can be transmitted between homosexual women. Since HPV transmission only requires skin-to-skin contact, it can be transmitted between women through direct genital-to-genital or finger-to-genital contact; in Europe and the United States, there is a possibility of transmission through shared sex toys, and the presence of genital HPV virus has been detected on fingers.
(2) Autoinoculation: In a very small number of cases, genital warts may be caused by warts in other parts of the body being transmitted to the external genitalia through scratching or other means. This is medically known as "autoinoculation". For example, HPV1 and 2 can cause both skin warts and genital warts.
(3) Transmission through pollutants: Human papillomavirus DNA can be detected in many pollutants, such as the patient's underwear, bathtubs, bath towels, etc., but this transmission route is extremely rare.
