HOUSTON — Although most pediatric vaginal infections require treatment, asymptomatic condyloma acuminatum and molluscum contagiosum are exceptions, according to Dr. Abbey B. Berenson.
“It's counter to our training, but sometimes a little benign neglect is the best option,” said Dr. Berenson, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas at Galveston.
Condyloma acuminatum, caused by the human papillomavirus (usually a low-risk type), is different in children than in adults, “not by presentation but by etiology,” she said. In adults, this infection is often sexually transmitted, but children can acquire it at birth; it may first manifest up to 3 years later. They also can autotransmit cutaneous types from their hands to their genitalia, she said at a conference on vulvovaginal diseases jointly sponsored by Baylor College of Medicine and the Methodist Hospital, Houston.
Treatment is warranted if the warts are persistent or symptomatic, but otherwise, observation is recommended, particularly because there is a high rate of recurrence after treatment, she said.