Dear Dr. Bob,

My doctor recommended the Gardasil injection for my 14-year-old, but wasn't this recently in the news? What is this shot?

Thanks,

Dear Kathy,

The Gardasil vaccine certainly got a lot of publicity due to the presidential debates. I think the governor had good intentions, but I still don't believe that any vaccine should be mandatory.

Gardasil was approved in 2006 to be used as a vaccine in the prevention of four of the different types of human papilloma viruses (types 6, 11, 16, 18). Types 16 and 18 cause an estimated 70 percent of cervical cancer, while types 6 and 11 cause an estimated 90 percent of genital wart cases. Gardasil is not given as a single shot, but as a series of three. In order to receive the maximum protection, the patient must get all three shots. This vaccine was originally only given to girls from the ages of 9 to 26, but now can be given to boys as well. They figure it takes two to tango.

It makes sense that if I wanted to prevent 2/3 of all cervical cancer cases, then I should have people get the vaccine. But as with every vaccination, there are the possibilities of side effects. Most of these have been very minimal such as redness, swelling or rash, but there are also some serious ones, such as thromboembolic events (blood clots).

Overall, the Gardasil vaccine has been very effective in preventing cervical cancer, at least in the studies done so far. There is always concern that the patient will not be protected for life and that he/she will lose their immunity. These individuals would have to get "booster shots" in the future, much like we do for the tetanus vaccination. Longterm studies are still in progress.

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