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Clinical evaluation of four recombinant Treponema pallidum antigen‐based rapid diagnostic tests for syphilis
Author(s) -
Li J,
Zheng HY,
Wang LN,
Liu YX,
Wang XF,
Liu XR
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of the european academy of dermatology and venereology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.655
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1468-3083
pISSN - 0926-9959
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-3083.2008.03102.x
Subject(s) - medicine , syphilis , treponema , gold standard (test) , syphilis serodiagnosis , serology , whole blood , sexually transmitted disease , immunology , virology , gastroenterology , antibody , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv)
Objective To evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and feasibility of four rapid tests in the diagnosis of syphilis in sexually transmitted disease diagnosis and treatment centre of Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Methods Tests were performed on consecutive clinic attendees, using whole blood in the clinic, and whole blood and serum in the laboratory. The sensitivity and specificity of each test was evaluated, using a standard treponemal test ( Treponema pallidum haemagglutination assay) as the gold standard. Results The results are as follows. Abbott Determine Syphilis TP test: for serum specimens, the sensitivity was 100% and specificity was 98.9%; for whole blood specimens, the sensitivity was 81.9% and specificity was 99.4%. SD Bioline Syphilis 3.0 test: for serum specimens, the sensitivity was 95.5% and specificity was 97.9%; for whole blood specimens, the sensitivity was 87.6% and specificity was 99.4%. VisiTect‐Syphilis test: for serum specimens, the sensitivity was 94.0% and specificity was 98.1%; for whole blood specimens, the sensitivity was 73.5% and specificity was 99.7%. Syphicheck‐WB test: for serum specimens, the sensitivity was 67.4% and specificity was 98.8%; for whole blood specimens, the sensitivity was 64.0% and specificity was 99.7%. Conclusion We therefore strongly believe that rapid serological tests for syphilis are an acceptable alternative to conventional laboratory tests. Since they do not require equipment or electricity, they could increase coverage of syphilis screening, and enable treatment to be given at the first clinic visit. Conflicts of interest None declared.