Each year more than 10,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer, and 4,000 die from the disease, and that is just in the US.  Worldwide there were 500,000 cases in 2005 alone.  The real tragedy of the disease is the timing.  Usually cervical cancer strikes young women who have had no children, and treatment prevents fertility.  But thanks to a revolutionary vaccine, scientists believe that this deadly disease may be on a path to extinction.

Cervical cancer is caused by various strains of the human pappilomavirus (HPV), and the new vaccine Gardasil pevents these virus strains from forming, essentially stopping cancer before it even begins. 

Doctors recommend the vaccine be given at age eleven or twelve, but can be started as early as nine.  This is done to jump start the girls immune system at an early age.  The vaccine can be "caught up" through a set of immunizations in older girls as well.  The risk of waiting can be significant, though. The vaccine only works if you have not been exposed to the virus already.  If a woman is sexually active and becomes exposed to the HPV that causes cervical cancer, it is usually too late to do any prevention.

 At this point the vaccine is given in three doses about six months apart.  The three doses are given to increase the number of antibodies in the system to fight the cancer.  Research is still pending on the possible need for a booster shot later on in life.

The side effects have been remarkably low.  The most common complaint is soreness at the injection site, the upper arm.  Low-grade fever or flu-like symptoms are also common. However, not one person in any trial discontinued use of the vaccine due to side-effects.

Locally, awareness has been spread the most through the Crider Center, which has spear-headed programs for vaccinations.  For more information check out www.cridercenter.org.