Many women are being tested for HPV- some strains are linked to cervical cancer, stated a new U.S. Study.

Women who are diagnosed positive may be getting unnecessary treatment that causes some side effects and complications, stated the study published in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

HPV is very common for women who are in their 20s but doesn’t lead to cancer- added researchers led by Mona Saraiya of the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

“There’s a much greater emphasis on avoiding a single cancer versus literally thousands of women being over-screened and over-treated,” said Philip Castle from the American Society for Clinical Pathology in Chicago, whose commentary on the study was published with it.

HPV has around 40 different strains, as per Centers for Disease Control and around 50 percent of people who are sexually active will receive HPV at a point of time.

Saraiya and his team collected data from doctors that use pap tests. Around 376 doctors answered the survey questions regarding how and when they did HPV test.

Regarding women in their 30s, researchers said that in this age group cancer is rare. But HPV testing is beneficial for regular screening of cancer.