Anti-HIV treatment

HPV vaccine

All girls in the UK aged between twelve and 13 should receive a vaccine against the strains of the genital wart virus (human papilloma virus, usually shortened to HPV) that are most associated with cervical cancer, an independent panel of experts has recommended.

One vaccine, Gardasil, has already been formally approved, and a second, Cervarix, is expected to be licensed later this year.

Gardasil has been shown to provide a very high level of protection against the four types of HPV particularly associated with cervical cancer . The best results were seen in women who were not sexually active, or had had very little sex, before they received the vaccine. Much lower levels of effectiveness were seen women who were already sexually active, or who were infected with HPV.

Many people with HIV are infected with HPV, and people with HIV are more likely to get cervical or anal cancer (but it should be noted that both cancers are rare).

No recommendations have yet been made about the use of the vaccine in people with HIV. Clinical trials into the effectiveness of Gardasil in people with HIV are currently underway. However, there is some evidence that people with HIV have an increased risk of being infected with multiple strains of HPV, some of which are not covered by the currently available HPV vaccines.

Some people, particularly gay men in large cities such as London, are paying for a private Gardasil vaccination because they cannot get it from the NHS.

But it is questionable if the vaccine will do them any good as there is a very high prevalence of HPV infection amongst sexually active gay men. Not all strains of HPV cause visible warts, so you can’t tell just by looking if somebody has HPV. The only way to be certain is to conduct special screening tests and it is highly unlikely that private doctors will be providing these (expensive) tests prior to vaccination.

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