HPV vaccination after age 45

[Idontpostmuch]

Most people probably know this, but there are clinics that vaccinate the over 45s against HPV. I only recently discovered this and yesterday had a first dose at Hampstead Heath Pharmacy. Very straightforward. Deposit of £25 when booking, deducted from cost of jab.

I didn't know this

I guess it comes down to lifestyle?
If someone is HPV negative and in a long term monogamous relationship, is there a need?

Possibly, possibly not. I just wanted to post on here because I was surprised and pleased to find that it is after all possible to obtain protection at any age. I tend to be the last to become aware of things, so many will already know about this, but I just wanted to share my experience in case others want vaccination but think they're too old.

Hiya, it’s a common misconception about HPV and in fact monogamous (or women not having any sex at all) can still have an HPV positive smear even after multiple previous negatives. There’s been quite a few studies done on this

HPV can persist in the body but not show up on a test then reappear from time to time. Some people say hormonal changes or immune system changes can be a culprit but I don’t think they know exactly why it happens most of the time x

Good to know OP. If were to split with DH I would want to get it.

It's there if you ever want it. No questions asked and no need to justify. Just complete an online health form before you go, and then it's quickly in and out.

From my understanding by talking to sexual health nurses, doctors, the 45 yo cutoff for Hpv vaccines is down to a few things.

Mainly, as the virus is routinely spread about through sexual activity, most over that age have had several, or many sexual partners, each carrying different strains

Once a strain is inside you the vaccine has no effect on it.

There are in excess of 100 variants.
A few are harmful and can cause problems.
A few will give you less harmful but unpleasant things like warts.
Most are benign and are readily spread about with different partners.

So its effectiveness goes down as your age (and number of partners) goes up is I think the nub of what they were saying, and there is obviously the cost of the vaccine too.

A good friend, 50’s, opted to pay for the vaccine as she’d had abnormal cells detected on a sample. It was iirc around £400 for this, but absolutely understand her thinking in doing this.

Its good to know our kids are now getting routinely vaccinated before they get to the age they’re encountering this virus.

Vaccine cost is only an issue with the NHS. They vaccinate the under 26s as well as those between 26 to 45 with special circumstances. The cost plays no part in the refusal of many clinics to vaccinate the over 45s, but some clinics have no upper age limit, as your friend found out.

I was only passing on information that was given to me by NHS staff.

Above a certain age, the efficacy of the vaccine has been judged to be of limited value, due to the factors I mentioned above. The vaccine also has a material cost, it’s not cheap, so I understand the thinking in not giving this out to anyone and everyone once they’ve had multiple partners as people in their 40s+ often have done.

It’s preventative, not a cure.

I was just trying to help by passing on information, which Google all backs up incidentally; I’m not trying to pass judgment or anything.

good luck

I've been rereading my post, trying to understand how I could possibly have given the impression that I thought you were passing judgement. The thought never entered my head. I was simply correcting something that you appeared to be saying, which is that cost is a reason for many clinics not vaccinating the over 45s. As we pay the full cost of private vaccinations, cost is not an issue. Of course it's one of the reasons for NHS capping it at under 26, the cohort who were offered vaccination but whose parents may have refused it on their behalf. However my initial post is about private provision, not NHS. Many clinics offering the service cap it at 45, but I recently found out, as your friend before me also did, that it is in fact possible in a few places, so I just wanted to share it. The NHS information you provide is entirely correct, but well publicised, so I think we all know it. Still worth putting it on here, though, since it might be new to some. The 45 yrs plus information I wanted to communicate is less apparent, though it may well be that I'm late to the party.

I just got my second dose at a private doctor. I am 47.

As we read so many times on this forum, monogamy is a myth.

You might be in a monogamous relationship but can you really be certain that your partner is?
Men are dogs.

Interesting reading the patient information leaflet. The vaccine contains more of some strains than others.

I'm getting mine privately as well, I'm 42. Married to the same chap for 20 years now but I kind of thought, why not? Nothing to lose except the money if it doesn't do anything.

The efficacy amongst young vaccinated people is wonderful to see though.

You're lucky because you can go anywhere and not have to travel to one of a few clinics that vaccinate geriatrics 😁. Personally I think anyone who can afford it should consider itl

Yes, vaccination is one of medicine's major success stories. My own children are too old, though.

Can't claim to have read too much of that! I only realised it was available to me as a friend (40s) got a positive HPV test after starting a new relationship. Her GP then suggested she may want to consider the vaccine privately.

I was told that a lot of vaccinations don't work as well on older people (not calling 45 old), but please ask your own HCP, but several people have said certain types only work well on younger people.

There were 3 different types for covid, all of which worked for all ages. Don't know what type HPV is, but it's illogical to say it works on age 45 but then falls off a cliff at age 46.

Did anyone have a chance to read deleted post before it was taken down?

Aha, so this is the post that had been taken down to allow MNHQ to have a look??? Curiosity satisfied.

The taken down comment was unhelpful.

What about the celibate women who suddenly test positive after a previous negative? Were they somehow non monogamous with themselves?
HPV isn’t like most STI. It’s maybe more helpful to think of it as behaving a bit like the cold sore virus. I’ve gone years with no cold sores then one appears, last one turned up when I was really stressed with a family illness.

A deleted post suddenly becomes interesting, usually a total letdown if we were able to see it 😀

But in this case the person would have already picked up the HPV and a vaccine would be too late isn’t it?

Too late for this particular strain but might be worth it for protection against other strains. Also, sometimes the natural immunity from the orig infection fails to prevent re infection if the same strain is encountered again. It's thought that vaccine might give added protection ie antibodies fighting it before it reaches the cells which have to rely on t cells.