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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Could HPV Be Transmitted Through Physical Touch?

Hi i know someone who told me they have HPV, i believe it's the kind with genital warts but im not too sure. I am really scared because they were sharing food but didn't take a bite of it. they just handed it to me with their bare hands and i ate it without thinking. could hpv be contracted if someone touched themselves in their genital area then touched the food then gave it to you? I'm really scared because i do not want to contract any disease..please help answer my question.
Fri, 10 Oct 2014
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Dermatologist 's  Response
Hello. Thanks for writing to us at healthcaremagic

Relax! No you cannot get HPV by eating contaminated food. HPV is a local infection. It cannot be acquired through food or spread through blood.

HPV can cause warts at various places. While hpv type 6, 11, 16 and 18 usually causes genital warts there are other hpv types which can cause warts at other places like hands and face etc.

The common route for acquiring these is close physical contact, either genital to genital sexual contact or physical contact to warts on fingers/hands etc. You wont acquire just by touching, there has to be a break in the skin (abrasion or something like that) for the infection to seed into your skin, but never through food.

Genital warts are easily transmitted by having sex with an infected person because the infection can gain entry through the minute breaks in the skin that usually happen during sex

Regards
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Could HPV Be Transmitted Through Physical Touch?

Hello. Thanks for writing to us at healthcaremagic Relax! No you cannot get HPV by eating contaminated food. HPV is a local infection. It cannot be acquired through food or spread through blood. HPV can cause warts at various places. While hpv type 6, 11, 16 and 18 usually causes genital warts there are other hpv types which can cause warts at other places like hands and face etc. The common route for acquiring these is close physical contact, either genital to genital sexual contact or physical contact to warts on fingers/hands etc. You wont acquire just by touching, there has to be a break in the skin (abrasion or something like that) for the infection to seed into your skin, but never through food. Genital warts are easily transmitted by having sex with an infected person because the infection can gain entry through the minute breaks in the skin that usually happen during sex Regards