Hpv positive and vaccinated

Cervical screening results
1

Hi,

Just looking for some advice around being hpv positive at 27 but had all 3 vaccines in school.

I recently came back testing positive for hov. I have some hand warts but no other symtpoms. I would class my self as fit and healthy with a good immune system so feeling anxious as to why I have HPV. I have also been in a relationship for 3 years and tested negative on my last smear in 2019.

Does this mean that the vaccine has not worked for me? And could I have a high risk hpv that is not 16 or 18 if testing positive on smear? How would i find out about which strain I have?

2

Hi
The vaccines basically just reduce your risk rather than cancel it out all together, abnormal smears are caused by cell changes reacting to long term HPV infection (this takes years to happen) so if you were fully protected they wouldn’t still be inviting you for screening, doesn’t necessarily mean to say the vaccine hasn’t worked for you x
The virus itself can lay dormant (inactive) for years before it shows up so it is possible to have had it before your last smear/relationship it just wasn’t active in your system until now so you won’t know when you actually got it… the high risk strains don’t usually cause symptoms but your GP surgery may be able to tell you the type it should have been reported to them on lab results as different strains have different protocols for management

Hope this helps :slight_smile: x

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Hi there, I also had the vaccine at school (cervarix) and was diagnosed with CIN1 in 2020. I’m a biochemist and naturally take an interest reading the studies etc on this condition, so out of curiosity I paid for an HPV test myself. I was negative for HPV type 16 and 18 (the strains covered by the vaccine) but I was positive for an “other” strain of HPV, that the test was not able to specify (but was one or more of HPV 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66 or 68).

So the vaccine did its job against the strains that cause the most cancers, but I am unfortunately still positive for another strain. I hope this helps others who had the vaccine and are looking for answers!

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