Papovaviridae

Questions

1. Describe the general properties of a Human papilloma virus?

2. Describe the transmission routes for the two main types of warts (what are these)?

3. What happens when you get infected?

4. Give examples of types of warts presented associating them with a particular type of the virus?

5. How would you diagnose Human papilloma virus?

6. How would you treat and prevent it?

The human papilloma virus is approximately 45nm in size, icosahedral non-enveloped virus. It causes warts of two types: skin + genital. The former is transmitted via direct contact with contaminated material whilst the latter is only transmitted via sexual intercourse. Now it is said that there are about 60 different types present, belonging to about 16 groups. A type is considered to be different compared to another type if it contains < id="r88n59" face="Wingdings"> plantar warts, Type 2  common warts (hand etc), Type 6, 11  genital warts, Type 16, 18, 31  cervical carcinoma. Incubation period is usually about 1-20 months, average being 2-3 months. Remember each type causes a particular set of pathological entities  hence diagnosis is usually by the appearance of the lesion, sometimes excision of lesion and histological examination is necessary. You can also radiolabel probes and put it into the host cells containing the viral nucleic acid. Treatment is via topical application of agents such as: glutaraldehyde, or lactic or salicyclic acid. Genital warts are treated by applying podophyllin. Prevention is relatively easy, stay away from contaminated sites and also use safe sex practices. Virus vaccines are now being developed for HPV 16, 18, 6, 11.

Category: Microbiology Notes