You can hardly miss the advertisements on television - young teens looking concerned, references to cervical cancer and a vaccine... but what is the buzz all about? It's actually about the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States - human papillomavirus, or HPV.  This virus is carried by more than 20 million people in the United States.  Predictions show that at least 80 percent of women will be carrying HPV by the age of 50.

If so many women have human papillomavirus without even realizing it, what is the concern?  The concern is actually well founded and something to consider very seriously.  HPV causes almost every known case of cervical cancer.  It also causes cancer in other sexual organs in both women and men.  This virus is spread through sexual contact and sometimes causes warts.  These benign tumors may not show themselves for months to years.

Back to the buzz?  There is now a vaccine your young daughter can get to prevent human papillomavirus.  The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved a vaccine for women called Gardasil that protects against HPV.  It is taken in a series of three injections in girls and women between the ages of 11 and 26.  It can also be given to girls as young as 9.

This vaccine should be given to girls before they are sexually active.  This will ensure they receive the full effect of the vaccination.  If they have already become sexually active they can still receive the shots.  Gardasil has shown to be 99 percent effective in preventing the strains of HPV that cause cervical cancer.

Girls and women who have received Gardasil should still go for a yearly pap smear once they have become sexually active.