Health personnel at the Karuri District Hospital in Kiambu County have dismissed rumours and beliefs that genital warts cause cervical cancer in women.
The warts are caused by certain types of the human papilloma virus (HPV).
Speaking to women at the health facility during a maternal health care session on Saturday, a senior medical practitioner at the facility Hilda Nyambura said that most women who were diagnosed with genital warts started worrying over the prospect of the disease transforming into cervical cancer. This, she said, is because the disease was not visible to the human eye but slowly affected them mentally.
Nyambura, however, explained that 90 percent of the genital warts was caused by certain strains that specifically affect the genital area. She said the virus was highly transmitted through skin-to-skin contact and that was why it was considered a sexually transmitted infection.
She clarified that the HPV which causes genital warts was not associated with cancer of the cervix which was a common worry in women with warts. She added that this is more common in people under 30.
Nyambura pointed out that if diagnosed with genital warts, people should get immediate medical attention to relieve symptoms. She added it was easy to identify genital warts as diagnosis is made by visual inspection.
She reiterated that worries in most women that the ailment causes cervical cancer were not true and told anyone with symptoms of the disease to go to hospital for treatment as it was curable.
Nyambura reckoned that women can prevent the disease protecting themselves from the most common HPV strains that cause genital warts. She added that they can also protect against strains of HPV that were linked to cervical cancer.
She cautioned that the disease can also affect men around their thighs and private parts and they should also visit the hospital for more information and treatment.
Nyambura advised parents to be regularly checking their children since the disease can affect them at the age of 11 to 12 years.