S. Korean men with condyloma surging

SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- The number of South Korean men with condyloma, a type of genital wart caused by a sexual disease, has grown by an average 8.3 percent annually in recent years, data showed Thursday.

Condyloma refers to an epidermal manifestation attributed to the epidermotropic human papillomavirus (HPV).

HPV infections usually clear up without any intervention within a few months after acquisition and about 90 percent clear within two years, according to the World Health Organization.

The U.N. health agency also said two HPV types -- 16 and 18 -- cause 70 percent of cervical cancer and precancerous cervical lesions, while non-cancer causing types of HPV, especially types 6 and 11, can cause genital warts and respiratory papillomatosis.

According to a team of researchers led by Kim Joon-mo at Soonchunhyang University, a total of 47,920 South Koreans were diagnosed with condlymoa in 2015, up from 26,606 in 2007.

Noticeably, the number of condyloma patients among men more than doubled from 14,038 to 32,086 during the cited period, the data showed. The number of female patients, meanwhile, grew at a slower pace from 12,568 to 15,834.

Their findings were published in the latest edition of the journal "Epidemiology & Infection."

khj@yna.co.kr
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