Can my daughter still get cervical cancer or genital warts — even if she has gotten the vaccine?
While Gardasil is nearly 100% effective at protecting against the 4 high-risk strains of HPV that cause 70% of cervical cancers, it does not provide protection from every strain of HPV that can cause cancer, says Debbie Saslow of the American Cancer Society. “So it’s not 100% percent effective overall,” she adds, noting that even vaccinated women are still at risk for some cancers and warts. Nonetheless, the chances of developing either of these conditions is greatly reduced by getting the vaccine.
