The French health officials made an announcement on Monday that they supported the use of Gardasil vaccine, produced by Merck & Co., which is meant to protect women against the Human Papilloma Virus or HPV. The choice was made over the Cervarix vaccine, produced by GlaxoSmithKline PLC, after a detailed analysis of the two. The conclusion was that Gardasil helps protect against four strains of the virus, while Cervarix addresses to only two.

The vaccines are designed for girls and young women, who are exposed to cervical cancer risks as soon as they begin their sex life, which is why both producers recommend it to be administered from an early age, from 11 to 26 years old, and some even as early as 9 years old, but the age subject is still being highly disputed.

Getting a vaccine will not confer a 100 percent protection against HPV, considering the many strains of the virus, but it is a good start, and the French health officials recommended it for women aged 15 to 23, before they had their first sexual contact or within a year after that. The cost of Gardasil is of approximately $360, and is administered in a three-shot series over a period of six months.

While Merck’s Gardasil was officially approved as a prophylactic HPV vaccine since mid 2006, Cervarix, produced by GlaxoSmithKline came in early 2007, after Gardasil had already established a name on the market. For the time being, the biggest difference between the two vaccines is that Cervarix is specifically designed for two strains of the virus, types 16 and 18, while Gardasil targets four strains, two of which produce cancer and two responsible for genital wards.

However, if any of the vaccines is administered, that does not mean the HPV virus has been defeated. Women should continue to do regular checkups at the gynecologist, and request for a Pap smear as it is commonly known, or Papanicolaou’s test, used to detect and prevent cytological diseases and cervical cancer.