It remains very controversial whether warts can spread this way. Neonatal infection may arise by passing through an infected birth canal. This can lead to rare complications, such as laryngeal papillomatosis i.e. warts in the throat. Because this complication is unlikely, a caesarean section is rarely indicated simply because a pregnant woman has genital warts. Transmission is common as genital warts often go unnoticed.
Subclinical infections can also be infectious.
Often, warts will appear three to six months after infection but latency periods of many months or even years have been reported. Developing genital warts during a long-term relationship does not necessarily imply infidelity. Visible warts are probably more infectious than subclinical HPV infection. Treating warts seems to decrease the chance of passing on the infection. We cannot tell whether the immune system completely clears the virus from the body, or whether the virus remains hidden but undetectable, capable of re-emerging years later if the immune system weakens.