For a while now, every time I go to the doctor for a regular check-up, she always asks me if I’m interested in a HPV Vaccine. HPV?

At first I didn’t even know what the letters in HPV stood for. I just knew that the vaccine would help protect against cervical cancer somehow. My mom has refused to let me get it, and every time I asked why, she would just tell me to research it. I didn’t even know why I bothered asking her since I knew that would be her response.

I am 18 years old, which means legally, I am allowed to choose for myself whether to get the vaccine. Wow. With great power comes great responsibility, I guess.

I am handed the same double sided, 8.5” x 11” sheet with FAQs about the HPV Vaccine every time I go to the doctor. But, in order to possibly make a life-changing choice such as this, I need more. I need to know what exactly the vaccine is preventing, how long it’s been around, possible side effects, and so forth.

I figured there would be other women that would want to know the same. So, here’s what I found.

First off, the letters in HPV stand for Human Papillomavirus. It is a very common disease, for there are over 3 million cases of HPV diagnosed every year. In fact, there are 79 million Americans living with this disease currently. It is also the most common STI, or sexually transmitted infection. It can spread through unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex, as well as from mother to child through birth, labor, or nursing.

Symptoms for anyone with HPV include itching or warts. Anyone who is sexually active can get HPV, and the symptoms may not even show up until decades after you initially get the virus.

Typically, when a person gets HPV, it goes away on its own. However, when it doesn’t, it can cause genital warts and even cancer.

That’s a lot of facts about HPV alone, but what about this vaccine?

Well, all girls and boys around the age of 11-12 are recommended to get vaccinated.

Vaccines are also recommended for men up to age 21 and for women up to age 26, if those men and women did not get vaccinated when they were younger.

The vaccine is also recommended for gay and bisexual men up to age 26. It is also recommended for men and women with immune deficiency, including people living with HIV/AIDS, up until the age of 26, if they did not get fully vaccinated when they were younger.

The first vaccine of HPV came out in 2006, which is very recent. The vaccine requires 3 shots, totaling up to a $400 cost.

A vaccine coming out only 10 years ago may seem a bit too soon for some, not wanting to be a test subject or a guinea pig for the medical field.

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has reported 35 deaths among 3.5 million people who received the vaccine, but there’s no connection between the deaths and the vaccine.

Moving 8 years later, in 2014, a study was published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. This study found out that 27% of physicians in the United States did not recommend this vaccine for 11 and 12 year old children.

The newest vaccine, Gardasil 9, protects someone from 9 different types of HPV, and this vaccine also helps protects women aged 9-26 against cervical, vaginal, vulvar, and anal cancers.

There’s also side effects of Gardasil 9, including pain, swelling, redness, itching, bruising, bleeding, headaches, fever, nausea, dizziness, and a lump where the shot was done on the person’s arm.

It looks like there’s a lot of side effects and controversy surrounding Gardasil, but there’s some great effect from it as well.

So, is it worth it? Should you get the HPV vaccine?

Well, as far as I can see, the choice is yours.