The Boeck-Bruusgaard series of cases of untreated syphilis consists of approximately 2,000 patients with primary and/or secondary syphilis, hospitalized in the Dermatological Department, University Hospital, Oslo, in the 20 years between 1891 and 1910. Prof. Caesar Boeck, who was head of the Dermatological Department in those years, had very little belief in the effect upon early syphilis of th...

Despite universal access to screening for syphilis in all pregnant women in Canada, cases of congenital syphilis have been reported in recent years in areas experiencing a resurgence of infectious syphilis in heterosexual partnerships. Antenatal screening in the first trimester continues to be important and should be repeated at 28 to 32 weeks and again at delivery in women at high risk of acqu...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Little information is available on the rapid diagnostic testing for syphilis in Burkina Faso. The objectives of the study were (i) to assess the sensitivity and specificity of four on site rapid tests in comparison with Treponema pallidum haemagglutination assay (TPHA) as a gold standard and (ii) to evaluate the operational characteristics of those tests among health wo...

The CAPTIA Syphilis-G enzyme immunoassay for the detection of antibodies to Treponema pallidum was evaluated as a screening test for syphilis in comparison with the standard rapid plasma reagin (RPR) test. One thousand samples were tested, and the standard fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption test and the standard microhemmaglutination test were used to confirm the presence of treponemal ...

OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence and correlates of syphilis among pregnant women in rural areas of South China. METHODS Point-of-care syphilis testing was provided at 71 health facilities in less developed, rural areas of Guangdong Province. Positive samples were confirmed at a local referral center by toluidine red unheated serum tests (TRUST) and Treponema pallidum particle agglutinat...

The lack of transfusion-transmitted syphilis in the United States in the past 30 years has led us to question the rationale for continued syphilis testing of blood donors. In addition, the significance of a confirmed positive syphilis test result in a blood donor is not clear. The following 2 questions have been raised: (1) Are we detecting any truly infectious donors? and (2) If not, what is t...

A recent U.S. survey demonstrated wide variation in the management of syphilis. 25/31 (73.5%) Consultants and Specialist Registrars in Infectious Diseases and Genitourinary Medicine, in Ireland were surveyed. 23 (92%) treat more than 50 HIV patients a year, 18 (72%) had been consulted on a patient with syphilis in the last year. With secondary syphilis, 13 (52%) give 3 doses of benzathine penic...

Part 1271.85 a (5) Syphilis testing should not be required for eye tissue. Dr. Marian Macsai et al documented that syphilis is not transmitted from donor to recipient by cornea1 transplant. Dr. Jay Pepose documented the ineffectiveness of using syphilis testing as a marker for other diseases. Additionally, unnecessary syphilis screening would result in a 7.5% increase in the cost of serology te...

Diagnosis and treatment of syphilis are challenging because of its variable clinical presentation and course and the lack of definitive tests of cure after treatment. This review of the most recent literature on the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, current diagnosis, and treatment of syphilis is focused toward clinicians who treat patients with this disease. Syphilis coinfection with huma...

Putkonen and Rehtijarvi (1950) published the results of a study on the Herxheimer reaction in early infectious syphilis. It was found that the febrile Herxheimer reaction occurs with different frequency and intensity at different stages of early syphilis and is practically absent at the latent stage of the disease. Because the number of cases of primary syphilis was rather small, the collection...