Cervical Screening Programme
Department of Health
The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

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Is HPV the same thing as HIV? Does HPV lead to breast cancer? Is HPV always sexually transmitted? Do I need to continue with regular smear tests after vaccination against HPV? Can HPV infection be treated? What happens if I get pregnant after the 1st or 2nd injection? Do I need to terminate the pregnancy? I am sexually active. Should I take the HPV test before deciding whether I should receive the vaccine? Is HPV the same thing as HIV? No, they are not the same. Although both viruses can be sexually transmitted, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and HPV give rise to different symptoms and diseases. Does HPV lead to breast cancer? No. Despite the similarity of their names in Chinese, HPV is not related to breast cancer. Is HPV always sexually transmitted? Genital HPV (which causes cervical cancer) is most commonly sexually transmitted. Rarely, a pregnant woman may pass on the infection to her baby. Do I need to continue with regular smear tests after vaccination against HPV? Yes, because the current vaccine only protects against 70% of cervical cancer caused by HPV types 16 and 18. You still need to have regular smears to detect any abnormal changes caused by the other high risk HPV types. Can HPV infection be treated? The vaccine prevents HPV infection but it is not a treatment for women already infected with HPV. Currently, there is no effective treatment for HPV infection. But there are treatments for the health problems that are caused by HPV, such as genital warts, cervical cell changes and cervical cancer. What happens if I get pregnant after the 1st or 2nd injection? Do I need to terminate the pregnancy? Preliminary research data suggest that the vaccine has no definite adverse effects on the pregnancy or the baby, so termination of pregnancy would not be recommended in general for this reason. You are advised to consult your doctor for further discussion. I am sexually active. Should I take the HPV test before deciding whether I should receive the vaccine? Taking a HPV test before vaccination is not recommended since there are no reliable HPV typing tests that have been validated by large clinical trials available in the market at the moment. In addition, 50% of natural infections may be tested serologically negative in the laboratory setting

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