Transmission of Genital Warts by Hands:
 Does it Happen?

Like all sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), genital warts are spread primarily through sexual contact (vaginal, oral or anal sexual intercourse with a person who has genital warts).

However, genital warts can also be transmitted by direct skin-to-skin contact. That is why it is possible for an infected mother to pass on the infection to her baby during childbirth (the baby may be infected while passing through the birth canal).

Genital Wart Transmission by Hands

Since HPV genital wart infections are transmitted by skin-to-skin contact, it is very possible to be infected by means of hands.

The tiny abrasions or scratches on most people’s hands can quickly be infected as the virus comes into contact with inner skin tissues. Even if your hands have no cuts and you don’t contract the disease yourself, you could possibly infect a third person.

• Scratching: if you scratch an infected area, the virus can get onto and under your fingernails, and this can lead to infecting others – or even to spreading the disease to uninfected parts of your own body.
• Touching the genitals of an infected partner during vaginal, anal or oral sex may infect your hands.
• The disease can sometimes be transmitted to children during normal handling (bathing for example) by either an infected person, or a person whose hands have been in contact with an infected person.
• Even if an expectant mother’s genital warts have been surgically removed, her body’s infected cells could still be transferred to her baby by way of her doctor’s / midwife’s hands.
• Simply touching an object that an infected person has touched can put you at risk of catching the HPV virus and developing genital warts.

Reducing Genital Warts Transmission Risks

To reduce the chances of spreading genital warts by hand, avoid scratching, picking or touching genital warts. Try to use new personal items whenever you have an outbreak of genital warts because the virus is most contagious while lesions exist and don’t share such items with others. This refer to razors, combs, brushes etc., but also includes bed linen and towels.

Since the primary method of genital wart transmission is sexual contact, you should abstain from sexual intercourse if you or your partner is infected. Condoms do not provide full protection against contracting HPV genital warts because a male condom doesn’t cover all areas that are infected.

Remember that a condom won’t prevent transmission from the scrotum to the genital/anus area, nor from, or to, the fingers of your hands.

Finally, although genital warts can be treated, there is no permanent “cure” for the viral infection itself. In some people, a strong immune system may overcome the virus, but this isn’t always the case and many people will remain infected for life.

If you have genital warts or are in contact (sexual or otherwise) with someone that does, remember that, hands CAN transmit this highly infectious, and potentially dangerous, disease. Take all the precautions you can to protect yourself and those around you.