Who is affected by warts

Warts are common.

  • Up to 10% of children and young adults have some type of nongenital wart.1
  • Plantar warts are most common among children and young adults, especially those who live together and share common bathing areas (such as college or boarding school students, gym members, or people in the military).
  • New warts generally do not appear in older adults who have never had them before.

Genital warts

  • In the United States, it is estimated that 1% of sexually active men and women between the ages of 18 and 49 have external genital warts.2
  • More than half of middle-aged people in the United States have some evidence—such as antibodies—of having been infected.3
  • It is estimated that about 40% of sexually active adolescent girls are infected with the virus that causes genital warts (human papillomavirus).4


Author: Sabra L. Katz-Wise
Ralph Poore
Last Updated: October 20, 2006
Medical Review: Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine
Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine
Randall D. Burr, MD - Dermatology

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