Sexually Transmitted Disease
The Child Abuse Team at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center provides the following table as a guide for health care professionals in interpreting laboratory test results for Condyloma Acuminata (Venereal Warts) and Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).
| Infection Sites | Vagina, penis, anus |
Incubation Period
and Symptoms | Infection may cause skin-colored growths that vary in size from a few millimeters to many centimeters. Infections may cause no visible warts. The incubation period may be two years or longer. |
| Transmission | Infection may be transmitted during birth, through sexual contact or by non-sexual contact. Sexual abuse should be considered in any child with anal or genital warts. |
| Diagnostic Tests | The diagnosis is usually made by their appearance on physical examination. The wart can be surgically removed and, in some centers, the virus type can be determined. Over 70 types of wart viruses have been identified. It is unclear if determination of the wart type is of any value when evaluating alleged sexual abuse. |
