Assessment of the frequency of all kinds of cutaneous warts in school age male students in Behshahr in 2003-2004

Background and Warts are benign epidermal lesions, caused by human papilloma viruses (HPVS). These lesions occur in different body surfaces with different shapes, and they are sometimes predisposing factors for some kinds of malignancies. Determining the frequency of all kinds of cutaneous warts in male students of primary, guidance and high schools in Behshahr in 2003-2004 was the main objective of this study. In this descriptive study, 1200 male students of primary, guidance and high schools between 7 to 18 years of age were randomly allocated and divided into 3 groups each with 400 students. Subjects of each group were examined by a dermatologist, according to valid clinical and diagnostic indicators about affliction to all kinds of cutaneous warts. Epidemiological and clinical data were collected in questionnaires and were analyzed using descriptive statistical tests and SPSS software. Our study showed the total frequency of warts to be 10.4%. They were most common in students of high school with 12.3%. One hundred and nineteen cases were common wart, 20 plantar, 5 flat, 4 filiform and 1 was anogenital wart. Epidemiological studies can play a basic role in interventional health therapeutic studies in society for reduction of incidence, morbidity, and mortality of dermatological diseases, followed by improvement of society health.