Gardasil may help guard against cervical cancer and is currently causing a revolution in the medical world. The vaccine is licensed for girls and young women between the ages of nine and twenty six and boys from nine to fifteen.

 

Currently the HPV Vaccine (Cervarix) is available on the NHS but only for girls and within a limited age group. In the meantime more and more of our young people are becoming infected. This is why Doctorcall is offering patients access to this important drug. We know that there is a very definite link between human papilloma virus (also known as “wart virus” or HPV) and the slow development of cervical precancers and cancers. It is also the cause of unsightly genital warts

 

It is an extremely common infection that is transmitted by having sex and approximately 70% of infections are found in the 15 to 24 year old age group. We have a very effective screening programme of cervical smear testing but it is not 100% effective. There will always be both false negatives and positives. It is therefore very exciting that there is now a way to further reduce the chances of developing what is the second most common cancer in women under 35.

 

Gardasil works by immunising against certain types of HPV or human papilloma virus. Types 16 and 18 are the cause of 70% of cervical cancers and types 6 and 11 cause 90% of unsightly genital warts. It is these four types against which Gardasil is active.

 

The vaccine is recommended for those who are not yet sexually active but also felt to be very beneficial to those who may already have become infected. This is because it is unlikely that they will have been infected by all the four mentioned strains.