PAP frequency per the question

My girlfriend is on the pill.  Her doctor will not renew her scripts until she has a PAP.  This is every 6 months.  Is this frequency common, every 6 months, or is the doctor or my girlfriend not telling me something.  

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
It is not common to do pap smears every six months unless there is a history of an abnormal pap smear somewhere in the recent past.  Usually patients that are getting paps done every six months instead of annually, have HPV (the human papilloma virus.

It is estimated that between 1 in three and 1 in six Americans has antibodies to HPV.  This means that almost everyone in our country has been exposed to the virus.  It is highly contagious. You might want to ask your girlfriend if she's every had any abnormal pap smear, or history of HPV.

Good luck!
Dr B

[ken11356]

Does this mean she has an STD?  I have been with her 6 years and have been faithful to her.