For parents of adolescents, information comes from all sides on how to prepare their children for major life decisions. A handful of those decisions directly affect their health.

Charity Hohm of Vicksburg recently opted for her daughters to be given a vaccination now available in Vicksburg that provides a measure of relief for mothers of pre-teen daughters.

&#8220The likelihood of two people getting married who are virgins is not very likely in this society,” said Hohm.

Hohm’s two daughters, ages 9 and 11, were vaccinated against the human papilloma virus (HPV) – part of a group of 120 DNA-based viruses, including 30 that are sexually transmitted. The virus causes more than 90 percent of the world’s cases of cervical cancer, the second most common cancer in women worldwide and the eighth most common in the United States. Breast cancer is first.

The vaccine, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration earlier this year, is now being administered by pediatricians at River Region Medical Center.

Hohm, a labor and delivery nurse at a hospital in Jackson, saw it as a viable preventive care option for her girls, and was fortunate that a provision in her insurance coverage paid part of the cost.

Heath-care professionals at River Region say the vaccine is a step against a type of cancer not many people know is caused by a virus.

&#8220I’m kind of excited. I have watched vaccines make a difference,” said Dr. Geri Weiland, a board certified pediatrician at River Region. &#8220In a generation, we might eliminate it (HPV).”

Young adult women age 9 to 23 are the target for the vaccine, Weiland said. Eventually, she said, the vaccine may become part of the Mississippi Department of Health’s Vaccines for Children program that includes routine shots for chicken pox, measles and hepatitis.

Though available only to pediatrics at this time, others at River Region who specialize in women’s health find the vaccine equally promising.

&#8220I’m in emphatic support of it,” said Dr. Odalis Sijin, a board certified obstetrician/gynecologist.

Cervical cancer, diagnosed in about 13,000 women each year in the United States, is now &#8220conceivably completely preventable,” Sijin said, adding that the virus &#8220needs to be put in the same category as any other virus.”

Although only about 3 percent of all HPV infections result in cervical cancer, pap smear testing is key in detecting HPV-induced abnormalities.

Sijin recommends women make pap smear visits regularly to monitor their overall reproductive health.

&#8220Visits should start within three years of beginning sexual activity,” Sijin said.

Genital HPV infection is very common. Estimates have suggested up to 75 percent of women will become infected with one or more of the sexually-transmitted HPV types at some point during adulthood.

In men, the infection can manifest itself as penile cancer, far less common than cervical cancer. Worldwide, cervical cancer affects 500,000 women annually. Penile cancer affects only about 30,000 men.

The HPV vaccine is marketed by Merck & Co. under the trade name Gardasil. Another preventive vaccine is also seeking approval and is marketed by GlaxoSmithKline.