warts

A wart is generally a small, rough growth, typically on a humans hands or feet but often other locations, that can resemble a cauliflower or a solid blister. They are caused by a viral infection, specifically by one of the many types of human papillomavirus (HPV). There are as many as 10 varieties of warts, the most common considered to be mostly harmless. It is possible to get warts from others; they are contagious and usually enter the body in an area of broken skin.

Causes, incidence, and risk factors All warts can spread from one part of your own body to another. They may spread from one person to another, but this is uncommon. Treatment is available if you do not like how the wart looks or if it is painful. Symptoms >The typical wart is a raised round or oval growth on the skin with a rough surface. >The spot may be lighter, darker, or black (rare) colored compared to other skin.

Different types of warts include: >Common warts usually appear on the hands, but can appear anywhere. They usually do not cause pain unless they are repeated rubbed against. >Flat warts are generally found on the face and forehead. They are common in children, less common in teens, and rare in adults. >Genital warts(condyloma) are usually found on the genitals, in the pubic area, and in the area between the thighs, but they can also appear inside the vagina and anal canal. >Plantar warts are found on the soles of the feet. They can be very painful. Many of them on the foot may cause difficulty walking or

Treatment Do NOT attempt to remove a wart yourself by burning, cutting, tearing, picking, or any other method. Over-the-counter medications are available to remove warts. Do NOT use over-the-counter wart medications on your face or genitals. Warts on the face or genitals need to be treated by your doctor or nurse. >First, use a nail file (emery board) to file the wart when your skin is damp. (For example, after a bath or shower). This helps remove dead tissue. Do not use the same emery board on your nails. >Apply the medicine to the wart every day for several weeks or months. Follow the

>Special foot cushions can help ease the pain due to plantars warts. You can buy these at drug stores without a prescription. Use socks. Wear shoes with plenty of room. Avoid high heels. >Your doctor or nurse may need to trim away thickened skin or callus that form over warts on your foot or around nails. Your health care provider may recommend the following treatments if your warts do not go away: >Stronger (prescription) medications, such as podophyllin or salicylic acid > A blistering solution >Freezing the wart (cryotherapy) to remove it

>Immunotherapy, which gives you a shot of a substance that causes an allergic reaction and helps the wart go away >Skin medicine called imiquimod A new medicine called veregen may be used on genital warts as well as other warts. Two vaccines are available to prevent infection against the strains of viruses that cause genital warts and cervical cancer in women Complications > Spread of warts

health care provider Call for an appointment with your doctor if: There are signs of infection (red streaking, pus, discharge, or fever) or bleeding. Warts can bleed a little, but if bleeding is significant or not easily stopped by light pressure, see a doctor. >The wart does not respond to self-care and you want it removed. > You have pain associated with the wart > You have anal or genital warts. > You have diabetes or a weakened immune system (for example, HIV) and have developed warts. > There is any change in the color or

Prevention >Avoid direct skin contact with a wart on someone else > After filing your wart, wash the file carefully since you can spread the virus to other parts of your body. > After touching any of your warts, wash your hands carefully. Pathophysiology Common warts have a characteristic appearance under the microscope. They have thickening of the stratum corneum (hyperkeratosis), thickening of the stratum spinosum (acanthosis), thickening of the stratum granulosum, rete ridge elongation,

severe and extensive case of warts

Infectious mononucleosis Infectious mononucleosis (IM; also known as EBV infectious mononucleosis, Pfeiffer's disease, Filatov's disease,and sometimes colloquially as the kissing disease from its oral transmission or simply as mono in North America and as glandular fever in other English-speaking countries) is an infectious, widespread viral disease caused by the EpsteinBarr virus (EBV), one type of herpes virus, to which more than 90% of adults have been exposed.verification needed

As a result, the disease in its observable form is more common in developed countries. It is most common among adolescents and young adults.Especially in adolescents and young adults, the disease is characterized by fever, sore throat and fatigue, along with several other possible signs and symptoms. It is primarily diagnosed by observation of symptoms, but suspicion can be confirmed by several diagnostic tests.The syndrome was described as an infectious process by Nil Filatov in 1887 and independently by Emil Pfeiffer in 1889. Risk Factors of Infectious mono nucleosis: A risk factor is something that

Risk factors that increase the likelihood that EBV will develop into mononucleosis include: Contracting EBV after the age of 10 Lowered immune resistance, due to other illness, stress, or fatigue Living in close quarters with a large number of people, such as in a college dormitory . Kissing an infected person,especially when the virus is in its active stages,as it spreads through the saliva Using glasses,eating utensils,or toothbrushes of infected persons. -In a 4-year prospective seroepidemiological study of infectious mononucleosis (IM) of one class of some 1400 cadets at the West Point Military Academy, susceptibles and immunes were

the causative agent, and new infections by the appearance of antibody (seroconversion). On entry, about 1/3 lacked EBV antibody, of whom some 20% became infected (seroconverted); about 1/4 of seroconverters developed definite, clinical and recognized IM. Psychosocial factors that significantly increased the risk of clinical IM among seroconverters included: 1) having fathers who were "overachievers"; 2) having a high level of motivation; 3) doing relatively poorly academically. The combination of high motivation and poor academic performance interacted in predicting clinical IM. Additional data on presence of elevated titers among seroconverters with inapparent disease and on length of hospitalization among cases of clinical

Signs and symptoms >sore throat > fever >Fatigue >Malaise >pharyngeal inflammation >vomiting >petechiae and loss of appetite Common signs >lymphadenopathy (enlarged lymph nodes) >splenomegaly (enlarged spleen) >hepatitis (refers to inflammation of

> hemolysis (the bursting of red blood cells). >Older adults are less likely to have a sore throat or lymphadenopathy, but are instead more likely to present with hepatomegaly (enlargement of the liver) >jaundice. Rarer signs and symptoms include >thrombocytopenia (lower levels of platelets) >with or without pancytopenia (lower levels of all types of blood cells) >splenic rupture >splenic hemorrhage >upper airway obstruction >pericarditis and pneumonitis.

Pathophysiology >Infectious mononucleosis occurs with infection by the EpsteinBarr virus. >The infection is spread via saliva, and has an incubation period of four to seven weeks.[16] Symptoms usually persist for two to three weeks, but fatigue is often more prolonged. >The length of time that an individual remains contagious is unclear, but may be the highest during the first six weeks following infection. Some studies indicate that a person can spread the infection for many months after symptoms are completely gone, with one particular study indicating as

>The virus replicates first within epithelial cells in the pharynx (which causes pharyngitis, or sore throat), and later primarily within B cells (which are invaded via their CD21). The host immune response involves cytotoxic (CD8-positive) T cells against infected B lymphocytes, resulting in enlarged, atypical lymphocytes (Downey cells).When the infection is acute (recent onset, instead of chronic), heterophile antibodies are produced >Similar symptoms can be caused by cytomegalovirus, adenovirus, and

Treatment >Infectious mononucleosis is generally self-limiting, so only symptomatic and/or supportive treatments are used.Rest is recommended during the acute phase of the infection, but activity should[citation needed] be resumed once acute symptoms have resolved. Nevertheless, heavy physical activity and contact sports should be avoided to mitigate the risk of splenic rupture, for at least one month following initial infection or splenomegaly has resolved,

Diagnosis The most commonly used diagnostic criterion is the presence of 50% lymphocytes with at least 10% atypical lymphocytes (large, irregular nuclei), while the person also has fever, pharyngitis and adenopathy. Furthermore, it should be confirmed by a serological test. The atypical lymphocytes resembled monocytes when they were first discovered, thus the term "mononucleosis" was coined. Diagnostic tests are used to confirm infectious mononucleosis, but the disease should be suspected from symptoms prior to the results from hematology.] These criteria are specific; however, they are not particularly sensitive and are more useful for

One key procedure is to differentiate between infectious mononucleosis and mononucleosislike symptoms.A few studies on infectious mononucleosis have been conducted in a primary care environment, the best of which studied 700 patients, of which 15 were found to have mononucleosis upon a heterophile antibody test. More useful in a diagnostic sense are the signs and symptoms themselves. The presence of splenomegaly, and posterior cervical, axillary and inguinal adenopathies are the most useful to suspect a diagnosis of infectious mononucleosis. On the other hand, the absence of cervical adenopathy and fatigue are the most useful to dismiss the idea of infectious mononucleosis

Differential diagnosis Diagnosis of acute infectious mononucleosis should also take into consideration acute cytomegalovirus infection and Toxoplasma gondii infections. These diseases are clinically very similar by their signs and symptoms. Because their management is much the same, it is not always helpful, or possible, to distinguish between EBV mononucleosis and cytomegalovirus infection. However, in pregnant women, differentiation of mononucleosis from toxoplasmosis is associated with significant consequences for the fetus

Acute HIV infection can mimic signs similar to those of infectious mononucleosis, and tests should be performed for pregnant women for the same reason as toxoplasmosis.Other conditions from which to distinguish infectious mononucleosis include leukemia, tonsillitis, diphtheria, common cold and influenza (flu).

AH1N1 Influenza A (H1N1) virus is the subtype of influenza A virus that was the most common cause of human influenza (flu) in 2009. Some strains of H1N1 are endemic in humans and cause a small fraction of all influenza-like illness and a small fraction of all seasonal influenza. H1N1 strains caused a small percentage of all human flu infections in 20042005. Other strains of H1N1 are endemic in pigs (swine influenza) and in birds (avian influenza).In June 2009, the World Health Organization declared the new strain of swine-origin H1N1 as a pandemic. This strain is often called swine flu by the public media. This novel virus spread worldwide and had caused about 17,000 deaths by the start of 2010.

On August 10, 2010, the World Health . Organization declared the H1N1 influenza pandemic over, saying worldwide flu activity had returned to typical seasonal patterns.As of 26 April 2011, an H1N1 pandemic preparedness alert has been issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the Americas. The affected areas have included the Chihuahua region of Mexico where its severity and work load have been high. It is reported by the aforementioned Recombinomics source that the current vaccine (California/7/2009) for H1N1 influenza lost its effectiveness in 2011. This point is all the more significant since it is the current virus target for the northern hemisphere's flu vaccine, and is the intended choice for the southern hemisphere

herpesvirus infection

Herpes is an infection that is caused by a herpes simplex virus (HSV). Oral herpes causes cold sores around the mouth or face. Genital herpes affects the genitals, buttocks or anal area. Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted disease (STD). You can get it from having sex, even oral sex. The virus can spread even when sores are not present. Mothers can also infect their babies during childbirth.Some people have no symptoms. Others get sores near the area where the virus has entered the body.

They turn into blisters, become itchy and painful, and then heal. The virus can be dangerous in newborn babies or in people with weak immune systems.Most people have outbreaks several times a year. Over time, you get them less often. Medicines to help your body fight the virus can help lessen symptoms and decrease outbreaks. Correct usage of latex condoms can reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of catching or spreading herpes.

Transmission HSV-1 and -2 are transmitted by contact with an infectious area of the skin during reactivations of the virus. Although less likely, the herpes viruses can be transmitted during latency. Transmission is likely to occur during symptomatic re-activation of the virus that causes visible and typical skin sores. Asymptomatic reactivation means that the virus causes atypical, subtle or hard to notice symptoms that are not identified as an active herpes infection.

Atypical symptoms are often attributed to other causes such as a yeast infection. HSV1 is usually acquired orally during childhood, but may also be sexually transmitted. HSV-2 is primarily a sexually transmitted infection but rates of HSV-1 genital infections are increasing. Both viruses may also be transmitted vertically during childbirth, although the real risk is very low. The risk of infection is minimal if the mother has no symptoms or exposed blisters during delivery. The risk is considerable when the mother gets the virus for the first time during late pregnancy.