The 5 most important types of warts

A summary of the types of warts that exist in humans, explaining whether they are dangerous.

Warts are defined as cutaneous excrescences that are usually round.. We are all familiar with this widespread description in the general population, as it is enough to pay attention to a specific area of our body to discover them. What not everyone knows is that they are skin lesions of viral origin.

That's right, warts hold many more secrets than we might at first believe: they are infections of the skin andThe 5 most important types of warts

A summary of the types of warts that exist in humans, explaining whether they are dangerous.

Warts are defined as cutaneous excrescences that are usually round. . We are all familiar with this widespread description in the general population, as it is enough to pay attention to a specific area of our body to discover them. What not everyone knows is that they are skin lesions of viral origin.That's right, warts hold many more secrets than we might at first believe: they are infections of the skin and/or mucous membranes caused by the Papillomaviridae family of viruses, better known as human papillomaviruses (HPV).

• There are more than 100 types of HPV, of which at least 14 are considered oncogenic (high-risk). This is not anecdotal, as subtypes 16 and 18 are responsible for more than 70% of cervical Cancer cases. Moreover, more than 99% of cases of this type of cancer are correlated with genital HPV infection. Who would think that a lesion as harmless as a wart and such a lethal cancer would share a causative agent from the same family? If you want to know more about

the types of warts

• Warts are lesions that are
• lesions that have a variable and outgrowing shape, usually with a globular shape.
• . They occur in different areas of the skin, so we will distinguish the type of wart according to its location on the patient's body.
• The National Library of Medicine of the United States lists their classification as follows
• Common warts: generally appear on the hands, but also on the rest of the body.
• Flat warts: generally present on the face and forehead. Common in children.

Genital warts: as their name suggests, they appear on the pubic area, between the thighs and in genital areas. Plantar warts: on the soles of the feet.Subungual and periungual warts: appear under or around the nails.

Mucosal papillomas: again, as their name indicates, they appear on the buccal and vaginal mucosa.

At this point, it is necessary to clarify that

we are dealing with benign cell proliferations, i.e. not cancerous. . They are a very frequent cause of visits to the doctor, since it is estimated that 0.8-22% of the adolescent population may present them. In addition, it is estimated that 10% of people on Earth have warts at some point in their lives. In the following, we will go through the most important types of warts one by one., Before we do so, however, we must first make a clarification. Human papillomavirus types are classified according to their differences in the viral DNA sequence and not according to their capsid-forming proteins (so we do not speak of serotypes). Therefore, we will use a nomenclature of "HPV X" to refer to each variant (e.g. HPV 16 or HPV 66), but we must not forget that we are always dealing with the same family of pathogens.1. Common warts or "common warts".

Also known as verrucae vulgaris

these lesions are related to infection by HPV types 2 and 4, followed by other variants depending on the type of HPV.

followed by other variants depending on the degree of immunosuppression of the patient. They are rounded papules with clear borders, rough surface and grayish color. As previously mentioned, they can appear in any area, but the cutaneous area of the hands is usually their favorite place. They are usually asymptomatic, as they do not usually cause pain, although they do sometimes cause discomfort to the patient if they are located on the hands..

They are usually asymptomatic, as they do not usually cause pain, although sometimes they do generate discomfort in the patient if they are located in areas subject to forces due to weights (for example, in the lower part of the feet). Little more needs to be said, except that the appearance of multiple or large lesions is usually related to patients with a certain degree of immunodeficiency (e.g. organ transplants and other pathologies).

2. Flat warts

This somewhat lesser known variant of warty skin lesion is caused by HPV types 3 and 10, plus occasional occurrences of HPVs 26, 29 and 41.

They are soft, pink warts with a slightly desquamative surface. Their location is usually on the face, the anterior area of the legs and in areas of scratching. For this reason, their nature is "autoinoculative", i.e., by physical contact with a virus-infected specimen.Professional sources emphasize that, although they are harmless lesions that do not generate any symptoms, their treatment and removal is complex.

Palmoplantar warts

They are mainly caused by HPV type 1, followed by variants 2, 3, 4, 27 and 57.

endophytic (i.e., inward growing) papules of a painful nature . As the name suggests, they occur on the soles of the feet and are therefore flattened by the weight of the body and surrounded by cornified epithelium..

Unfortunately, this variant can be very uncomfortable for the patient, as tasks such as standing or walking can be hindered by the appearance of these warts.

4. Genital warts This is swampy ground. Just as the symptoms of the types of warts previously described range from harmless to slightly annoying, genital warts are another matter altogether. As we mentioned at the beginning, HPV types 16 and 18 are considered oncogenic, as they cause more than 70% of cases of cervical cancer in women. cause more than 70% of cervical cancer cases in women.

We go further, as in 2012 the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated a total of 528,000 new cases and 266,000 deaths due to this worrying type of cancer. HPV is responsible for 12% of all female cancers in regions of the Global South. In addition, studies link these HPV types to cancers of the vulva, penis, vagina and anus. However, previously cited sources report that most HPV infections of a genital nature are not very problematic, since in 90% of cases they usually disappear in a self-resolving manner in less than two years without associated symptoms.

. It should also be noted that there are other HPV genital warts with a low tendency to form cancerous processes, such as types 6 and 11.

Even so, persistent infection with the oncogenic HPVs mentioned above can lead to the dreaded uterine cancer.

Fortunately, there are two vaccines (one bivalent and one tetravalent) that protect the general population against this type of pathogenic infection. This treatment is included in the vaccination schedules of many countries for boys and girls aged 9-14 years, before they begin to engage in sexual activities (the method of transmission of this genital virus).5. Other types and considerations

Although we have left out the mosaic, filiform and periungual types of warts, we have found it especially important to focus on the most common and the genital variant, since the rest are of an anecdotal nature and of moderate epidemiological interest.

If there is one thing we want to make clear, it is

the multifaceted nature of human papillomaviruses, since, depending on their differences in the DNA sequence that makes them up, they can cause disasters as astounding as they do in the human papillomavirus. Depending on their differences in DNA sequence, they can cause disasters as astronomical as uterine cancer or a simple skin lesion of no great importance. Although it may seem a trivial issue, it is also important to note that these clinical manifestations occur twice as often in white people, and that the proportion of infection between men and women does not differ significantly..

Summary

As we have seen, warts are a much more complex world of skin lesions than one might at first expect. Human papillomavirus types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 35, 39, 45, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59 and 66 are carcinogenic to humans, while many others present with skin lesions that are relatively harmless to the carrier. Finally, it should be noted that The HPV genotypes prevalent worldwide are: 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58.

• If there is one thing we want to make clear with this numerical conglomerate, it is the following: the family of human papillomaviruses can present from a small skin wart to cervical cancer. This is not to frighten readers, but to report the variation and epidemiological interest of this family of viruses.
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• Bibliographic references:
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• De Izaguirre de Arellano, J., & Echezuría, L. (2011). HPV. Archivos Venezolanos de Puericultura y Pediatría, 74(4), 159-162.
• Human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer, World Health Organization (WHO). Retrieved September 12 from https://www.who.int/es/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/human-papillomavirus-(hpv)-and-cervical-cancer