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Sara Hughes has spent the past several months in and out of hospitals. At first, no doctor could tell her what was wrong. Then, once they found out what was wrong, no doctor knew how to fix it.

Hughes, from Centerville, Utah, studying social work at Brigham Young University, had an adverse reaction to the vaccine Gardasil when it was administered to her within minutes of her flu shot. According to Hughes, this poisonous, and nearly lethal, combination could have been avoided if there wasn't so much pressure to promote and distribute the vaccine.

"Gardasil is a good vaccine," Hughes said. "But because it's being pushed so much, health care officials may not be up to date. Everyone is looking at this as a miracle drug."

Gardasil is a vaccine targeted toward women ages nine to 26 designed to help prevent certain types of the human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is transmitted sexually, and certain strands of the virus have been found to cause 70 percent of cervical cancer cases and 90 percent of genital warts cases.

Many health care professionals are encouraging all girls within this age range to receive the vaccine regardless of their sexual activity. Hughes worries Merck & Co., Inc the company producing Gardasil is promoting the vaccine so heavily in Utah because so many girls are already at low risk for contracting HPV since many are not sexually active.

"In 20 years, very few of these girls will have cervical cancer, but it won't be strictly because of Gardasil," Hughes said. "It will be more of a reflection of their lifestyle."

And according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), lifestyle really is the best way to avoid HPV.

"Abstaining from sexual activity is the surest way to prevent infection," according to the CDC Web site. "For those who choose to be sexually active, a monogamous relationship with an uninfected partner is the strategy most likely to prevent future genital HPV infections."

Recently, the Utah Legislature refused to allocate funds to provide Gardasil for underinsured and uninsured women. Legislators may have been worried since HPV is transmitted sexually, officially approving the vaccination would encourage sexual promiscuity among young women. But while they did not approve funds to distribute the vaccine, they did pass a bill to promote public awareness of cervical cancer.

The bill, passed in April, "directs the [Utah] Department of Health to establish a public awareness campaign to educate parents, healthcare providers and women about the causes

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