Should I get an hpv shot?

Yes of course. All Vaccinations carry their rare risks, but the benefits do outweigh the rare risks. Unfortunately the HPV vaccine has almost turned into the whole MMR debate all over again,- where the media and anti-vaccination brigade have put a lot of incorrect unproven information into circulation. I can't tell you what to do, but I will give my opinion which is based on actual fact. I am 23 and will soon be paying for the vaccine privately, I have researched this vaccine extensively.

The RARE negative side effects reported are just that, rare. There haven't been many severe reactions and of those that have occurred, there is no proven evidence to link the reaction to the actual vaccination. For example, that girl's paralysis could have been the result of something else.

Thousands of girls have had this vaccine and only a handful of girls have reported to have had severe reactions. The most common, mild and minor reactions experienced are redness and soreness at the injection site and fainting. (The fainting was likely the result of just having the injection rather than the actual vaccine being to blame.)

In the UK, cervical cancer is the 12th most common form of cancer in women, with around 2,800 cases and just over 1,000 deaths from cervical cancer each year and 270,000 worldwide. It is a silent cancer. Although smear testing has brought the number of cervical cancer cases down, no test is 100%.

The problem with cervical cancer is that by the time symptoms are noticed, it is sometimes too late and the disease has metastized, if you are young (like what has happened to Jade Goody for example), the disease will spread more quickly. Even if the cancer is caught in time, it will not prevent the mutilating surgery that has to be carried out in order to save your life. This includes removal of part of the bowel, ovaries and womb.

70-90% of cervical cancer cases are caused by the HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), the cervical cancer vaccines offers full protection against the types of HPV that have a direct link with Cervical cancer (types 16 and 18). If there is a chance that you can save yourself from the sheer misery cervical cancer would cause, I would take it. With regards to long term side effects, this vaccine has undergone the same testing that other drugs go through before being licenced. The only long term uncertainty is whether or not we will need a booster vaccine in later life. If so, we will be given it.

By the time we all reach late adulthood, 70% of us will carry the HPV virus, it is not simply a case of "if I limit my partners I am not at risk" you only have to sleep with one partner to contract HPV. It is true that the majority of people who contract genital HPV will not have complcations from it, but one really cannot afford to take that risk

To summarise; the rare risk that you will have a severe reaction to the vaccine are by far outweighed by the protection it will offer you from a devastating form of cancer. ALL medication has it rare side effects, you can die from having the flu vaccine. Please also bear in mind, that of all the rare side effects reported, none have actually been conclusively proven to be a result of the vaccine.

I apologise for my long winded answer. I didn't know how to condense

Edit
Oh dear 'Missmara' find some factual based proven evidence to back up your claim and you might be taken seriously. Dr Frank and I do not live in the US. We live in the UK, our health system works very differently here. You can't find any evidence to support your here say claim so you get personal. I am not really singing the vaccine praises. There are risks with EVERY vaccine, but the rare risk that your child might have a reaction is by far outweighed by the benefits.

Death from cervical cancer is just about the worst thing I have ever seen in a young woman in my 30+ years in medicine. It is slow. drawn out and even with the best care often unavoidably painful. In the UK there are currently about 200 of these terrible and now potentially avoidable deaths every year. Many women who do survive cervical cancer also go through painful and mutilating procedures.

There is pretty much no down side to HPV vaccination and I am at a loss to understand the media and religious based controversy that surrounds it.

My only explanation for the large number of thumbs down votes for Rhianna's detailed answer is that Yahoo has yet again failed to clamp down on single users using multiple identities to apply illegal block votes.

I personally would never let anyone inject that poison into me or my daughters. At least 20 women have died after getting Gardasil. It not only doesn't protect against most types of hpv, (only 4 strains) it is also suspected in causing some cancers. It was pushed through way too fast and long term side effects are not yet known. Did you know that doctors who give the injections get a cash bonus from the drug maker? I just don't think enough is known about it to know that it is safe in the long run.

Keep in mind it is a "doctor" and a "nurse" who are singing the praises of this garbage. They get money for every unsuspecting victim they damage with this junk. Is your health worth making sure a doctor gets more money for his fancy house and car?

If I had the chance to go back I sure wouldn't get it again. I had seizures from it. My doctor made it seem like I had no choice and I had to get it. Maybe I was an exception, but i strongly suggest you don't get it.

DON'T GET IT!!!! My daughter died from that garbage. Please, don't listen to they hype, it is very dangerous. Google deaths from gardasil, you will get lots of information. Please don't put your parents through what my wife and I went through.