Q) Can I go for my cervical screening now?

Many cervical screening tests were postponed and invitations paused when lockdown was announced. But from this month, women in Morecambe Bay will start to receive these invitations again.

This week it’s Cervical Screening Awareness Week and Bay Health and Care Partners are not only encouraging women to attend their appointments, but also reassuring them that it’s safe to do so.

Cervical cancer affects around 3,000 women in the UK every year and is the most common form of cancer for women under the age of 35.

Attending cervical screening is the best way to help prevent cervical cancer. However, attendance was at a 20-year low last year, with recent data showing that one in four women in the Morecambe Bay area didn’t attend their cervical screening.

Research has previously shown that one of the reasons women don’t attend their cervical screening is due to embarrassment, so it’s important to know that the nurses who carry out the cervical screenings see hundreds of women a year.

They will always do their best to make you feel welcome, comfortable and ensure your dignity is maintained.

Another point to consider is safety. Primary care was very quick to respond to the coronavirus outbreak and within days identified ways of keeping patients exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 separate to those who aren’t.

When women do come in for their cervical screening, the clinician they see will be wearing Personal Protective Equipment, referred to as PPE, which will include a plastic apron, face mask and plastic gloves.

Also, all rooms are being cleaned down between each patient and waiting rooms have been restructured to ensure a two-metre distance can be kept between patients.

The NHS offers screening for all women, starting around their 25th birthday and up to the age of 49 every three years, and all women aged 50 to 64 every five years.

Patients will receive an invitation by letter from their GP practice when they are due for a cervical screening.

Q) Are men more at risk of catching coronavirus?

The quick answer to this is no, no-one is more at risk at catching COVID-19 than anyone else,

However there are groups of people who are more likely to get severely ill or die from coronavirus and data from around the world has shown that more men have died from COVID-19 than women.

At the moment, no-one really knows why but there are a number of theories, which are all explored in more detail on the Men’s Health Forum website and these include biological and behavioural factors.

One of which is that women have a stronger immune response through their hormones, oestrogens and prolactin, whereas testosterone is immunosuppressive, meaning it suppresses the immune response of an individual.

Another possibility could be that men have higher rates of additional conditions like heart disease and high blood pressure which could contribute to more severe illness from COVID-19.

The simplest way to protect yourself and your loved ones against COVID-19, no matter your gender, is by washing your hands for 20 seconds regularly.

It is also important to follow social distancing guidance and make sure you keep a two-metre distance from anyone you don’t share a household with.

If you start showing symptoms, remember to self-isolate straight away.