Warts, sometimes called verruca, are benign lesions on the skin, and can take a variety of forms. These lesions are quite common in children and the elderly, when skin is at its most fragile. The skin is functionally the first and largest immune organ in the human body, protecting the internal systems from pathogens and viruses. Within the skin, there is a complex system of signaling that allows the body to respond to potentially harmful intruders, like HPV. In infancy and again as humans age, cutaneous structural integrity is vulnerable, causing more incidence of warts in those stages of life.

Scientists have also found that differences in sex correlate to different outcomes when it comes to HPV or human papilloma viruses. In some cases, women have greater anti-inflammatory responses, but in others that women have more severe symptoms compared to male counterparts. It is important to note that when studying these outcomes in humans, differences in behaviors and environments must also be considered. Some HPVs have been linked with cervical cancers in women, and they can be found with a routine pap smear, and protected against with the vaccine mentioned in the video.

Papilloma viruses exist in many different species- humans, bovines, canines, equines, lagomorphs, and birds all have their own versions of the virus. Those viruses are species specific and do not appear able to cross-infect.

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