The global incidence of genital warts among women in 2001-2012 is 120.5 cases per 100,000 persons per year, with 24 year-old women being the most numerous sufferers. In Indonesia, according to the 2007-2011 Consolidated STD Incidence Report from 12 Educational Hospital, genital warts is one of the Top 3, with the highest distribution among 25- 45 year old women (62.5%). “Other than from sexual intercourse, which causes direct contact with the mucus of sufferers, infection may also be transmitted from mother to baby during childbirth. Though rare, infection may also occur due to direct and indirect contact with HPV-contaminated items (fomites). Once you suffer from genital warts, you must beware, because it is a recurring illness,” dr. Amel said.
Preventable with Vaccination
Lowered immunity (immunosuppression), repeated infection from sexual contact, or sub-clinical (hidden or unknown) lesions, may cause recurrence of the disease. Even when the prognosis is good, recurrence is a frequent occurrence. “Diagnosis is primarily determined through direct clinical checks. Supplementary checks include acetic acid test, Pap smear, pathological tests, colposcopy (checks using optical magnifiers), and identification of HPV genomes. However, you only need to perform clinical checks, acetic acid tests, and Pap smears regularly. Proper diagnosis is the first step before determining the correct therapy,” dr. Amelia said.
Treatment is mostly performed by controlling lesions by smearing chemicals, performing electro-cauterization, cryotherapy, lasering, and surgical excisions. “The considerations used to determine which therapy to give is made according to the size, intensity, and siting of the lesion; complications relating to the therapy; the patients’ preferences; the availability of the therapy; and comorbidity. Up to now, there are no specific drugs that can prevent the virus’ replication. Therefore, treatment is still meant to eliminate clinical symptoms instead of the virus. This is the cause of recurrence, which will in turn causes psychological and financial problems to the patient. A more certain preventive step is through HPV vaccination, which can also be administered to genital wart sufferers who already have other medical treatments,” she concluded. (est)