You’ve probably seen the television commercials or pamphlets at an Uptown bookstore advertising Gardasil, a vaccine for the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus common to young adults.

The drug has received attention for being both groundbreaking and controversial, as it is the first vaccine for a sexually transmitted disease and can prevent cervical cancer.

While some students aren’t aware of HPV, it is reccommended that college-aged women be vaccinated. Hudson Health Center began offering the vaccine when it became available in the fall, and it has been popular since it was announced, said Dan Hudson, a pharmacist at Hudson.

HPV 411

Recent advertisements on the dangers of HPV — a virus that 50 percent of sexually active people will contract at some point in their lifetime — might conjure unpleasant memories of a junior high sex-ed lesson, but the virus can be deadly.

HPV can be transmitted through any genital contact, including oral sex, and is therefore not always prevented by condoms. While most strains of HPV go away on their own, some strains can lead to genital warts or cervical cancer, which kills about 4,000 women in the U.S. each year, according the National Cancer Institute.

“Some HPV, it does disappear — but you could be carrying the strains that cause cervical cancer,” said Char Kopchick, director of Health Education and Wellness at Ohio University.

Gardasil protects against four strains of HPV that cause 90 percent of genital warts and 70 percent of cervical cancers, Kopchick said.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the vaccine for children as young as 9. This past summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the vaccine to all women aged 11 to 26 and is especially targeting preteens. The young age is ideal because the vaccine is most effective in girls who aren’t yet exposed to the virus, said Dr. Jessica Kahn, a researcher for the vaccine and an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati.

The vaccine also is effective in women who might have already been exposed.

“It was very effective in women up to 26, even if they had sex,” Kahn said.

Even someone who has HPV could prevent a different strain of it with the vaccine, Kopchick said.

Getting the shot

Hudson provides the vaccine in a series of three shots over a few months at $135 a pop, totaling $405.

Kopchick has coined the phrase “preventing HPV is as easy as 1,2,3” to describe the three injections that can prevent the cancer-causing virus. She said she would get the vaccine if she were in college, but said it’s not Hudson’s job to push the vaccine on anyone.

“We just make people aware it’s here,” she said.

The price could be a deterrent for some students, such as junior Dana Garabedian, who said she is “too poor” to get the vaccine.

The vaccinations are not covered by the OU student health insurance plan because they are classified as a preventative medicine, which the plan doesn’t cover. But many insurance providers are covering the vaccinations or considering covering them.

Several private practices in Athens have started administering the drug and Planned Parenthood of Southeast Ohio is planning on carrying the drug in the future, said Tammy Norris of Planned Parenthood.

So far, doctors and researchers have detected only a few side effects, such as redness and swelling at the injection site.

Kahn said pregnant women are not recommended to receive the drug, although it has not proven to be harmful to them.

“In addition to being one of the most effective vaccines that we have, it’s one of the safest,” Kahn said.