Fact: Cervical cancer is the only cancer with a single-known cause -- the human papillomavirus (HPV).

Fact: Cervical cancer kills 288,000 women annually worldwide, according to World Health Organization.

Fact: You can get a vaccine to help prevent this deadly disease at the University of Colorado's Wardenburg Health Center.

CU junior Marissa Jones says the decision to get the vaccine was a no-brainer.

"I didn't want to get cancer," Jones says. "If you can get a vaccine at this point instead of an STD, then why wouldn't you?"

Patty Kintzing, a nurse for Women's Health Services at Wardenburg, says approximately 75 percent of cervical cancer cases come from one type of HPV, which is now preventable by receiving the vaccine.

"I give a lot of vaccines in a day and I feel like I'm contributing to preventing a terrible disease," Kintzing says.

Not bad at all

The waiting room at Wardenburg is filled with People magazines and no screaming children.

There is no 8-by-8 doctor's room with a cold table, a swivel chair and drawers of syringes. The site of the vaccine takes place in Kintzing's charming office. The comfy, plush, rocking recliner in the corner of the room is where it all happens.

"This chair has been a lifesaver for the shot," Kintzing says. "I have had no episodes at all in this chair. It's more relaxing overall, it's more comfortable and the girls feel less anxious about the whole thing."

All in all, Kintzing says the only side effect of the shot is a little soreness at the site of the injection. The procedure consists of three separate shots over a six-month period.

Kintzing says she makes sure to observe the patients for about 10 to 15 minutes, especially after the first shot, to make sure they are fine. She says by the time the patient gets up to leave, they are OK.

Senior Annie Wurtzebach says she is terrified of getting shots, but this one wasn't so bad. After researching the vaccination and listening to recommendations, she decided to get the shot.

"Just to be safe," Wurtzenbach says. "You never know what could happen."

What is HPV?

The FDA's definition of HPV says it is a sexually transmitted virus. It is passed on through genital contact, or by skin-to-skin contact. At least 50 percent of people who have had sex will have HPV at some time in their lives, according to the FDA.

There are more than 100 types of HPV, according to the FDA. The vaccine contains empty virus shells of four different strains, says Dr. Chesney Thompson, an OB/GYN at the University of Colorado Hospital.

Types 6 and 11 are low-risk strains that cause warts. Types 16 and 18 are the high-risk types, which are the ones that ultimately cause cancer, Thompson says.

"We cannot treat HPV," Thompson says. "I can't make a virus go away. Viruses are like the common cold, the flu, hepatitis, HIV, herpes -- all those things are viruses ... we don't have a cure for viruses."

But, he says, the vaccine will help prevent getting the virus, or strains of the virus.

Thompson says the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has approved the vaccine for women ages 9 to 26.

Women are recommended to receive the shot as adolescents because that age group has presumably not been sexually active.

However, Thompson says women over the age of 18 still stand to benefit -- even if the woman has been sexually active.

"At age 18, maybe someone's had sexual contact," he says. "But it's still very unlikely that the person has been exposed to all four viral types of the HPV virus that the vaccine prevents."

So what if you have a strain of HPV, then what?

"If I find HPV in anybody -- whether she's 18, 25 or 45 -- I can't treat it," Thompson says. "But what we can treat is if the virus is actually causing cellular changes, then we can treat those cellular changes."

Thompson says there are no symptoms for HPV, so if you have the virus, you will not know.

He says this fairly new chapter in medicine is a big deal. As far as cancer prevention goes, he says this is the best paradigm and screening in all of medicine.

"It's incredibly important," Thompson says. "Particularly for college-aged women who are right in the wheelhouse of this -- if you look at who gets infected with HPV, it is ... college-aged students."

Kintzing says since the procedure is fairly painless, quick and reliable, she highly recommends getting the vaccine.

"Let's do whatever we can to prevent having another case identified of cervical cancer in a young woman of 19 or 20 years old," Kintzing says. "And it shouldn't be happening now that we have a vaccine."