How long does it take for symptoms to appear after contracting genital warts, specifically, the virus involved is the human papillomavirus (HPV)? After contracting such a virus, the symptoms appear following an incubation period, which generally lasts from one to eight months, with an average period of about three months.

This means that some patients may engage in unprotected sexual activities, and after contracting HPV through such activities, they might start showing symptoms of genital warts between one to eight months later, with the average being three months. The symptoms typically begin as small bumps on the genitalia which may gradually increase in number and size, eventually forming wart-like or cauliflower-like growths.