An estimated 20 percent of women are infected with it and many have no idea, doctors at the Medical College of Georgia say of human papilloma virus, a common sexually transmitted disease that is a major risk factor for cervical cancer. If the warts are too small to notice, there are no obvious signs.
Warts signal that the virus is active, placing women at increased risk for cervical cancer.
Even infected women who never develop warts may develop pre-cancerous cellular changes. About 20 types of the virus also put women at risk for cervical cancer. The Pap smear, a yearly screening test recommended for all females after the onset of menses, looks for precancerous changes caused by this disease. Doctors estimate that about 1 percent of women infected end up with pre-malignant changes making HPV the largest risk factor for cervical cancer. Babies also are very susceptible to this infection.