HI there,

Thanks for your questions. Genital warts are caused by certain types of HPV virus. The visible warts will usually go away on their own, but the virus can stay in your body for a year or more. Although the virus does clear on its own eventually, it is hard to say how long it will stay as this really varies from person to person. Some people get treatment (topical medication or freezing) to make the visible warts go away more quickly – this will not affect how long it takes for the virus itself to clear.

The risk to your partners is just that they may get the virus, and might get visible warts as well. This virus is common and rarely causes any complications beyond being a nuisance.

As far as we know, the virus that causes genital warts does not have any effect on fertility for your or your partners.

Let us know if that answers your questions,

Health Nurse