New Suggested Guidelines for Young Women and Pap Tests

by KYW’s Lynne Adkins

New guidelines suggest that women in their 20's don't need a pap smear every year to detect cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer grows slowly. It's caused by HPV, the human papillomavirus and now girls and young women are being offered a vaccine to prevent certain HPV strains.

Dr. Louis Weinstein, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, agrees with the new testing guidelines but doesn't believe, the vaccine, called gardasil is a factor in those changes:

"In general, gardasil which will prevent certain HPV strains, human papillomavirus strains, will really have no effect in regards to this screening, at least at this time, women should still avail themselves to pap smears, the only difference is the frequency.”

In addition women 30 and older with three consecutive clear tests need to be tested every 3 years.