I picked up Covid early in the pandemic and put my newly acquired immunity to good use by joining the Covid medical team at my local hospital for the weeks that followed. There was a side-effect however: a sense of invincibility that has perhaps made me take less care to protect myself from respiratory viruses ever since.

My luck ran out recently while looking after a group of patients with upper respiratory infections. Not all respiratory viruses are equal: we may call them “colds”, but some varieties are considerably more unpleasant than others.

Using PCR, we can now tell the difference between 22 different bugs with pinpoint accuracy, in about an hour. Mine turned out to be parainfluenza type 1 (there are four serotypes, who knew?) – a nasty virus, more common in the USA and among children.

My bout ranked alongside my experience with Covid: the symptoms lasted over three weeks and included a secondary lower respiratory infection requiring antibiotics to clear.

There’s no vaccine as yet against parainfluenza, but there are vaccines against other important respiratory infections – pneumococcal pneumonia, RSV, Covid-19, a newly-recommended adult top-up against whooping cough, and of course flu.

I shall be having all of these vaccines this winter and will take much greater care to protect myself when those around me have “colds”.

Women between the ages of 25 and 64 are invited for regular cervical screenings where a healthcare professional looks at the health of the cervix to detect any cell changes or abnormalities. However, in 2022-2023, the number of women who attended their cervical screen fell. Nearly a third of the women invited to do their cervical screen didn’t attend their appointments, this is around 4.6 million women, a deeply concerning number, as over 3000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year and 99.8% of those cases are preventable. Prevention is better than curing, and the earlier you are aware of any cell changes, the easier it is to treat.

Why do some women not attend their cervical screenings?

One of our general practitioners, Dr Belinda Griffiths, has found that in her experience women don’t attend their cervical screenings for a number of reasons including: difficulties with taking time off work for a GP appointment, fear of embarrassment, and fear of the process being uncomfortable or painful. 

However, to combat these concerns, the NHS has launched at-home HPV kits. Dr Griffiths explains how they work – “The HPV test is highly sensitive so it separates out those who are HPV-positive and HPV-negative. Those who are HPV-negative will be considered ‘low risk’ for cervical cancer and will be asked to do a future test. Those who are HPV-positive will be deemed ‘high risk’ and be asked to attend for follow-up with a clinician whereby they will conduct a cervical screening to check the health of their cervix and investigate if any abnormal cells are present.”

These new tests are the same process as at-home STI tests whereby a simple swab collects the sample from the vagina. Having the option of this sort of test at home removes the fear some women may have surrounding the slightly more intrusive cervical screen.

What is HPV?

HPV (human papillomavirus) is a common virus passed on via skin-to-skin contact, usually through genital contact. There are many types of HPV, most of which are harmless, don’t usually cause any symptoms and the infection will go away on its own. However, others are deemed ‘high risk’ as they can persist and cause cell changes which can lead to cancer. It is thought that these ‘high risk’ HPV strains are responsible for around 80% of cervical cancer cases, making the detection of HPV all the more important.

How can you prevent HPV?

You can be protected from certain HPV strains through vaccination. There are two HPV vaccines currently available in the UK: Gardasil which protects against 4 strains of HPV used in the NHS and the vaccine used here at the Fleet Street Clinic, Gardasil-9, which protects against 9 of the high-risk HPV strains.

When can you be vaccinated against HPV?

The NHS now routinely offers the Gardasil vaccine to girls and boys around age 12/13, before the age people generally become sexually active. However, the vaccination programme only came into full force in 2019, meaning many people are currently unvaccinated. It should be pointed out that adults can get vaccinated at any age and even if you have already been exposed to HPV, the vaccine can still offer protection against other strains to which you have not yet been exposed. 

It is a particularly good idea for people to get vaccinated before they attend university or before they go travelling on a ‘gap year’, as these are typically times where young people are more sexually active and therefore more likely to be exposed to HPV. 

It is important to note that getting the HPV vaccination most certainly doesn’t mean missing or not participating in HPV tests or cervical screenings. A combination of these preventative measures gives you the highest possible chance of preventing cervical cancer. 

Book your Cervical Screen or HPV vaccine online today.