Hiya, I have a question which the nurse who carried out my cervical screening test couldn’t answer.
I was told that now they do an initial test for HPV and if this is negative they do no further testing.
Around 10 years ago I had a private smear which included HPV testing. Although I had no abnormal cell changes I did come back positive with a high risk type of HPV.
Around 5 years later I had a second private smear this time the HPV was negative and it has been since.
My concern is that the HPV infection I had from years ago may now cause cell changes which won’t be detected as they’re not looking for them now my body has cleared the HPV. Is this a realistic possibility or is it the case that now my body is cleared the HPV there’s no longer a risk from that past infection?
Thanks