HPV Vaccination

Cervical cancer is caused by HPV, fortunately there are vaccines available that protect against 4 HPV strains protecting against 70% of cervical cancers and 9 HPV strains protecting against 90% of cervical cancers.  Both vaccinations offer protection against genital warts which are also caused by some strains of HPV.

This vaccination is a course of three intramuscular injections at 0, 2 and 6 months with the first dose at a date of your choosing.  It is not thought at this stage that a booster dose is required.

The HPV vaccines are completely synthetic and do not contain any active virus components. The synthetic virus-like-particle mimics the antigen structure of the virus and your immunity will generate antibodies which will act against the actual HPV infection thus preventing the infection.

As this is a synthetic vaccine, there are very few side effects and are mostly related to the injection-site such as swelling, redness, infection etc. Sometimes, headache, dizziness, fainting or allergic reaction to the vaccine have been reported.

No. It is not possible to get HPV or any disease caused by HPV from vaccination. That’s because there is no live virus in the vaccine.

Currently, the studies into these vaccines are still ongoing and the follow-up is around ten years. However, the immunity obtained on vaccination and antibody levels seem to remain high throughout. We therefore feel that a booster dose will not be required.

No, it still may make sense. Ideally, HPV vaccination should be carried out before sexual debut. However, less than 1% of women are exposed to all nine types that the vaccine protects against. 99% of women are therefore likely to benefit from this vaccination even if you are sexually active or have had treatment for abnormal smears.

A recent publication suggests that vaccination after treatment reduces the risk of recurrence of smear abnormality by about 50%.

Yes, but only at the age of 12-13. The NHS vaccination programme is carried out through the schools. The vaccine is not available on the NHS to older women. Gardasil-9 is not yet available on the NHS.

Yes, you will still need some screening either in the form of a PAP-smear or HPV-DNA test.