Question:  My friend and I shared a towel to dry off.  I was spending the night at her house and was too shy to ask for my own towel.  She has genital warts.  Can I now have genital warts? ~ Ashley in Dallas

Answer:  It is not possible to contract an STD from sharing a wet towel under most all circumstances.  The only reason I did not say 100%, unequivical “NO” is due to those people whose idea of sharing a towel includes having some form of foreplay.  It is definitely possible to get a sexually transmitted disease from foreplay.  Genital warts is transmittable from non-penetration foreplay. 

There are over 25 known forms of genital warts, and all of them are very easily contracted through direct physical contact of the genitals.  This does not mean if someone touches their genitals then shakes hands then you touch your genitals that you would get genital warts.  The virus does not work that way.  Only the sensitive skin cells around your private parts are suceptible to the gential warts virus. 

It is also important to note that the HPV vaccine does NOT make you immune to all the genital warts variations.  The HPV vaccine only builds immunity to the few most common types of genital warts.

HPV · Share Towel · STD Facts

Many people who get genital HPV, it will clear on it’s own with no treatment and with no symptoms. Most of the time, no health problems occur. The longer the virus is in the body, the higher the risk of experiencing health problems, including cervical, anal or throat cancer. The HPV virus lives in mucous membranes in the vagina, anus and throat.

 

Much of the information about HPV centers on women, since having the virus increases the risk of getting cervical cancer. HPV in men can cause health problems, too. Men have an increased risk of getting genital cancers, although these cancers are not common. HPV can also cause genital warts in men, just as in women.

 

Changing sexual practices have led to a dramatic rise in throat cancer in the United States. Increasing rates of HPV infections, spread through oral sex, is largely driving the rapid rise in oropharyngeal cancers, which include tumors of the throat, tonsils, and base of the tongue.

 

The appearance of warts is one way HPV infection is diagnosed. A doctor simply does a visual inspection. In women, an HPV test can be done by a doctor with a swab of cells from the cervix, just like a Pap Smear Test. There is no routine test for men to check for high-risk HPV strains that can cause cancer. However, some doctors are recommending anal Pap tests for gay and bisexual men.

 

There is no treatment for HPV infections when no symptoms are present. Instead, doctors treat the health problems that are caused by Human Papillomavirus.

 

Abstinence is the only sure way to prevent HPV transmission. The risk of transmission is lowered when a person has sex with only one person who is not infected and who is also monogamous. Condoms can provide some protection against HPV transmission. Unfortunately, they aren’t 100% effective, since HPV is transmitted primarily by skin to skin contact. The virus can still infect the skin uncovered by the condom. If a partner has HPV, it does not necessarily mean they have had sex with someone else recently. The virus can lay dormant in the body for years without causing noticeable symptoms.

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