New Syphilis Home Screening Test Positioned to Raise Awareness

New Syphilis Home Screening Test Positioned to Raise Awareness

A new over-the-counter syphilis antibody test has received marketing authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Branded as First To Know, the at-home screening test requires just a drop of blood and provides results within about 15 minutes, offering an early indication of a possible syphilis infection. However, any positive result must be further confirmed with laboratory testing. In a clinical trial involving 1,270 participants, the test accurately identified 99.5% of negative cases and …

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CDC Offers Detailed Recommendations on Syphilis Lab Testing

CDC Offers Detailed Recommendations on Syphilis Lab Testing

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released what the agency says are the first comprehensive recommendations on laboratory testing for syphilis. The extensive guidance covers laboratory-based tests, point-of-care tests (POC), processing of samples, and reporting of test results. In general, for symptomatic patients, nontreponemal tests are recommended for laboratory screening. Treponemal tests are used to validate nontreponemal results and to diagnose early syphilis infections not detectable by nontreponemal tests. Additionally, CDC notes that treponemal …

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