Difference between Wart and Herpe

Key Difference: A wart is a rough growth that appears most commonly on the hands and fingers or on the soles of the feet. They can also appear on the other parts of the body like face, arms or legs and sometimes grow in the genital or anal area. Herpes refer to any of a group of viral diseases belonging to the Herpesviridae family. Herpes can be caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2).

Wart Warts are common ailments caused by the HPV virus. A wart is a rough growth that appears most commonly on the hands and fingers or on the soles of the feet. They can also appear on the other parts of the body like face, arms or legs and sometimes grow in the genital or anal area. They may appear in any size that is larger or smaller. The term warts are sometimes interlinked with pimples because their appearance is red in color, but they are also usually white and grey colored. A wart is usually visible. They can be very painful when it gets infected and inflamed. Otherwise, warts are usually painless.

Herpes simplex virus type 1 or type 2 are responsible for the condition known as Herpes. Generally Type 1 occurs as an infection on the facial and mouth areas. This virus causes sores (known as cold sores or fever blisters). On the other hand, Type 2 usually causes genital herpes. Genital herpes causes genital sores, but it can also infect the mouth. A majority of adults in the U.S. are believed to suffer from oral herpes (cold sores), usually caused by HSV-1. Someone suffering from a severe quantity of tension or stress is also at an increased risk of experiencing a herpes outbreak.

Comparison between Wart and Herpe:

	Wart	Herpe
Description	A wart is a rough growth that appears most commonly on the hands and fingers or on the soles of the feet.	Herpes refer to any of a group of viral diseases belonging to the Herpesviridae family.
Prone of the skin area	Hands Finger Feet Arms Legs Face	Mouth Face Genitals Skin Buttocks The anal area.
Caused by	Virus – Human Papilloma Virus	Virus- Herpes simplex
Symptoms	Warts may appear as a bump with a rough surface, or it may be flat and smooth surface. Tiny blood vessels grow. They are usually rough, gray, brown and dome shaped growth.	Initially a rash or a blister may appear. An itching or tingling sensation may follow, accompanied with flu-like symptoms, fever, and painful urination and/or enlarged nodes.
Mode of transmission	Not contagious	By direct contact- Any direct contact with an herpes infection Kissing, touching or caressing actively infected areas. Sexual contact Cold sores or mouth sores can be spread by sharing the same glass, cigarette, lipstick, lip balm, etc. (A pregnant woman with primary episode of genital herpes can pass the virus to her fetus)
Treatment	One can get a treatment for warts – Home Treatment: File the wart after shower or bath, so that it will help to remove dead tissue. Put the medicine on the wart for several weeks. Cover it with bandage to prevent it from spreading. Treatment by doctor: Stronger medications, such as podophyllin or salicylic acid Freezing the wart to remove it Burning the wart Laser treatment if difficult to remove, etc.	No cure for herpes. One may use anti-viral medications to reduce the symptoms and speed the healing of the sores or blisters. The sores or blisters generally heal within 1-2 weeks without scarring.
Effecting Age	Young people are more commonly affected.	Cold sores caused by Type 1 virus, generally affects children between the ages of 1 and 5.