Two vaccines are available that protect against the HPV types that cause most cervical cancer in women:
• The vaccine is given as a series of three shots.
• It is recommended for girls and women ages 9 through 26.
• It is best for girls to receive the vaccine by age 11 or before becoming sexually active. However, girls and younger women who are already sexually active can still be protected by the vaccine.
Two vaccines called HPV2 (Cervarix) and HPV4 (Gardasil) are approved:
Both vaccines protect against the two types of HPV that cause most cases of cervical cancer. Other, less common types of HPV can still cause cervical cancer.
HPV4 (Gardasil) also protects against two other types of HPV that cause most cases of genital warts in women and men.