Rapid test for syphilis: the effectiveness of diagnosis and rules for conducting a blood test RPHA

Syphilis - a rather dangerous pathology, the occurrence of which is provoked by the penetration of treponema (Treponema pallidum) into the body. The disease is dangerous and with untimely therapy or ignoring the manifestations, it is fraught with critical consequences, including death.

Therapy for venereal disease is long and laborious. Timely detection of the disease and appropriate treatment is the best way to prevent the development of complications, improve the general condition and well-being. The prognosis will be favorable only if syphilis is detected in the early stages.

The pathology is insidious, characterized by a slow and progressive course. It is often found by chance when passing an examination with a suspicion of another ailment, and therefore is often detected late.

Late stages of the disease are fraught with irreversible and severe damage not only to internal organs and systems, but also to the central nervous system. A person may not even be aware of the presence of a disease for a long period and infect partners. The risk of infection when intimate with an infected person -

30-35%. The duration of the latent course is approximately 1.5 months. The symptomatology of the disease is varied and changes with the progression of the pathology.

When the first alarming symptoms appear - a hard chancre on the skin, it is necessary to immediately seek the help of a specialist and undergo an examination.

You should not try to cure the disease on your own, this is fraught with unpredictable consequences and often leads to the development of complications. Today there are many drugs for the treatment of the disease, as well as methods for determining the presence of treponemas in the body. Diagnosing pathology consists in studying the history of life, examining the patient, collecting tests (biological material) and further research of fluids, including blood, conducting serodiagnostics. Also, additional laboratory tests of urine, blood and blood biochemistry are carried out.

The most popular and highly effective method is the rapid syphilis test. The test is similar in principle to a pregnancy test. The only difference is that blood is used instead of urine.

Advantages of the research method

The method for detecting syphilis and its causative agent is in demand and, unlike other methods, has a number of advantages.

The main ones include:

1. Fast results. Almost any rapid test for syphilis gives a result within half an hour. In some cases, the result will have to wait several hours, but this is still faster than examining the material in laboratories.
2. The price. The device costs 300 rubles on average, which is several times cheaper than diagnostics in a laboratory.
3. The ability to purchase, both in any pharmacy, and in the online store (anonymously).
4. The ability to conduct yourself, at home.
5. Simplicity and affordability. You do not need special knowledge and skills to pass the test. All you need to do is read the annotation and adhere to all recommendations when passing the test.
6. Anonymity. To conduct the study, there is no need to visit a medical facility. No need to leave contact information.

Indications

Anyone can conduct research.

But most often, an express test for syphilis is recommended:

• during gestation;
• in case of alarming symptoms;
• in the absence of the possibility of diagnosis in a medical institution;
• people who often change sexual partners;
• those who suffer from other sexually transmitted infections;
• before donating blood (donation);
• with close household contact with an infected person;
• people who, for some reason, do not use contraceptive methods;
• if there was unprotected sexual intercourse.

The preparatory stage and the procedure for performing the study

In order to obtain a reliable result, a rapid test for syphilis should be carried out taking into account several rules.

1. It is strongly not recommended to drink alcoholic beverages one or two days before the study.
2. Thirty minutes before the analysis, you should stop smoking.
3. The test should be done on an empty stomach and preferably before lunchtime.
4. Before carrying out, you must carefully study the instructions.

Failure to comply with these recommendations is fraught with distortion of the result. The test is very simple. You don't need to have any special skills and abilities. First, wash your hands well (preferably with antibacterial soap). You cannot carry out the procedure if the test was just purchased and it has not yet warmed up to room temperature (in winter, for example). The packaging should only be opened after preparation has been completed.

Before the examination, the finger is wiped with an alcohol napkin (its inner side). After piercing the upper phalanx with a scarifier, a drop of blood that comes out should be drawn into a pipette and squeezed into the indicator cell. Next, a reagent is added to the cell - a couple of drops. After about a quarter of an hour, you can find out the result. If the result appeared on the indicator later (more than half an hour later), it is not recommended to consider it correct.

Principle of operation

The test works in a similar way to the pregnancy test. Only blood is used instead of urine. The result will depend on the type of device and the correctness of the procedure.

RPGA blood test: types and effectiveness of tests, reliability of the result and cost

There are several types of tests. They can be treponemal and non-treponemal. The first are very specific, because the screening of healthy people is done carefully. Their only drawback is reduced sensitivity in the early stages.

A blood test RPGA (stands for the abbreviation, as a passive hemagglutination reaction) is a specific test. The method consists in gluing red blood cells, on the surface of which antigens of the pathogen accumulate. A similar reaction occurs when the blood of an infected person is added, which contains antibodies to the spirochete.

As for the sensitivity of the RPHA blood test and similar tests, in particular the RIF, in the early stages it is about 70-80%, later - 99%.

The RPHA blood test is far from the only qualitative method to determine the disease. ELISA is no less effective. With the help of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, it is possible to identify antigen and antibodies to them, causative agents of a wide variety of infectious ailments. ELISA is both a screening and a confirmation method at the same time. This method helps to identify any genital infection, as well as syphilis at any stage of its development.

Using non-treponemal tests

In addition to treponemal tests, in particular, a blood test, RPHA is also isolated from non-treponemal ones. Such devices contribute to the detection in serum of antibodies to phospholipids, which are destroyed due to ailment. Such devices are cheaper than treponemal devices. For their implementation, not a protein antigen (which is specific for treponema) is used, but its alternative (cardiolipin antigen).

Due to the high sensitivity, the test result is often false positive. The use of such tests is recommended for mass screening of the population. If the pathogen is identified, a second check is carried out, but with the use of a treponemal test.

Characteristics of the most effective tests

Today there are many tests for determining sexually transmitted diseases.

The most accurate and verified are the following types:

1. Creative MP-syphilis. Highly effective and sensitive test (99%) with a double combination of antigens. Determines antibodies to the causative agent of syphilis, both in blood, plasma and serum. For the study, a couple of drops of whole blood are used. The result can be seen after ten minutes. The presence of treponemas in the body will be signaled by the appearance of two pink-purple stripes. If there is only one line in the control area, the person is healthy.
2. Cito Test Syphilis. This test is an immunochromatographic test. Equipped with a test cassette, buffer, pipette. Everything else needs to be purchased. About ten minutes after the analysis, you can find out the result. The presence of two clear lines signals the presence of pathology.
3. ImmunoChrome - antiTR-Express. Detects antibodies to the causative agent of syphilis. The result can be found out after a quarter of an hour. Infection is indicated by the appearance of two purple stripes. The kit includes: buffer, alcohol wipes, pipette, test strip, scarifier.
4. Syphilis test. The set of reagents contributes to the determination of antibodies to treponema by the ICA method (immunochromatographic analysis). The presence of two parallel stripes indicates the presence of syphilis. The result can be seen in ten minutes.
5. Profitest. Test with a sensitivity of 99.5%. Included: test cassette, lancet, pipette, alcohol wipes. The result will be known after a quarter of an hour. The presence of two stripes signals infection.

Reasons for a false negative result

An erroneous syphilis test result can be due to:

• expired shelf life;
• taking antibacterial drugs;
• decoding the result later than the recommended time;
• improper storage of the strip;
• penetration of foreign liquids;
• the absence of antigens at the time of the study;
• improper blood sampling;
• low dough temperature;
• opening the test three or more hours before the examination;
• a small amount of biological fluid.

Reasons for a false positive result

Despite the absence of pathology at the time of the study, there is a likelihood of obtaining a false positive result. This may be due to: pregnancy, the presence of diabetes, benign or malignant tumors, pneumonia, autoimmune pathologies.

In addition, a false positive result can be triggered by:

• non-venereal treponematosis;
• advanced age;
• the presence of tuberculosis;
• measles;
• leptospirosis;
• drug addiction;
• alcoholism.

Before diagnosing or refuting it, the patient should consult a venereologist.

Price, how to store the test

The average cost of an express test is 300 rubles. You need to store the test tightly packed, at a temperature of up to 30 degrees. The test is not subject to freezing.