Biological false positive serological tests for syphilis in the Jamaican population.

Smikle, Monica; James, Owen; Prabhakar, P

doi:10.1136/sti.66.2.76

Cited by 21 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(1 reference statement)

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“…These figures are much higher than those from Jamaica where a 4.7% prevalence was reported in 3,039 pregnant women (Smikle et al 1990). They are, however, comparable to the reports from Yaounde by Njee (1983) who found antibodies in 12% of 1,282 pregnant women and Mouden (1986) who found antibodies in 11.7% of 23,955 pregnant women seen over 3 years.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Prevalence of infections affecting the child among pregnant women in Yaounde, Cameroon

Ndumbe

Andela²,

Nkemnkeng-Asong

et al. 1992

Med Microbiol Immunol

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The prevalence of infections which have deleterious effects to either the mother or the fetus during pregnancy are unknown in Cameroon. To formulate appropriate antenatal screening policies for the Central Mother and Child Clinic in Yaounde, we tested random sera obtained from 1,014 stored samples previously obtained from pregnant women. One hundred and fifty sera were tested for the presence of the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), 544 for syphilis antibodies, 192 for antibodies to rubella and 192 for antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii. We found the HBsAg in 25.3% (38/150) of the subjects, antibodies against syphilis in 15.9% (87/544), antibodies to the rubella virus in 83.9% (161/192) and evidence of toxoplasma infection in 77.1% (148/192). Of the 38 HBsAg-positive subjects, 5.2% and 55.3% were positive for the HBe antigen and HBe antibody, respectively. We found a high prevalence for these infections in the antenatal clinical attendants. The data will be used to develop an appropriate control strategy for them.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Prevalence of infections affecting the child among pregnant women in Yaounde, Cameroon

Ndumbe

Andela²,

Nkemnkeng-Asong

et al. 1992

Med Microbiol Immunol

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“…[1][2][3][4] However, for syphilis screening, these tests have their limitations. 1,5 The reasons for this are the limited sensitivity and disease specificity of the standard non-treponemal tests. The sensitivity of the macroscopic card tests, the modified version of the original rapid plasma reagin (RPR) test, the RPR circle card test 3,6 and the Toluidine red unheated serum test (TRUST), 1 cardiolipin, cholesterol and lecithin, 1,2,5 varies according to the stage of syphilis, 7 and might be negative in late latent syphilis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological false-positive tests comprise a high proportion of Venereal Disease Research Laboratory reactions in an analysis of 300,000 sera

et al. 2005

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This retrospective study on syphilis screening at the sexually transmitted infection (STI) unit of a University Department emphasizes the necessity of a treponemal-specific test as the appropriate screening test. The Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test for syphilis screening may, under certain circumstances, yield positive results in patients not infected with Treponema pallidum, a phenomenon referred to as biological false-positive (BFP) VDRL test. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of BFP tests in a large sample of sera. In this retrospective study, we analysed the results of parallel VDRL and T. pallidum haemagglutination (TPHA) testing of a total of 514,940 blood samples obtained from patients at the Vienna General Hospital between January 1988 and November 1999. Patients' sera with incomplete data on stage and sex and duplicate sera were excluded, leaving 300,000 sera for analysis. The seroprevalence for syphilis was 1.77% (n = 5320), as determined by a positive TPHA test. It was significantly higher in male than in female patients (2.03% versus 1.58%, P<0.001). Of the patients reactive in the TPHA test, 3257 (61.2%) were negative in the VDRL. With regard to reactivity in VDRL testing, 2799 patients (0.92%) of the study population were positive, of whom 736 (26%) were biological false positive. BFP reactivity was found in 0.24% of all patients and was significantly higher in women than in men (0.27% versus 0.20%, P<0.001) and in patients over 60 years of age (0.34%) as compared with those under 60 (0.25%, P<0.001). This proportion might be even higher, as reactivity in the VDRL at 1:0 and 1:2 dilutions without a positive treponemal test was not reported. The subgroup of HIV-positive patients (n = 1415) revealed a 10-fold higher rate of BFP tests (2.1% versus 0.24), an effect being statistically significant. In a low syphilis prevalence population, BFP reactions comprise a high proportion of all VDRL reactors. Therefore, the use of the VDRL as a screening procedure is challenged.

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“…18,20 The VDRL reactivity in the HIV sero-negatives in VCTC (60.8%) is much higher than the incidences reported in community studies on apparently healthy population from India and abroad (2.7-6.2%). 12,13,[23][24][25] This figure is also higher than the prevalence reported in population with high-risk exposures like the commercial sex workers, truck drivers, prisoners and professional blood donors (39.3-6.8%). [26][27][28][29] The very high incidence of VDRL reactivity in VCTC attendees cannot be ignored even if the TPHA reactivity is low.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…Evidently, part of it might be due to biological false positivity or other sexually transmitted diseases. 7,13,[30][31][32] But because of exposure to high risk, a number of these individuals are more likely to develop syphilis sero-conversion as has been reported in untreated high-risk cases. 33 Moreover, increased risk of HIV infection in cases of reactive syphilis serology has been described (2.3-8.7 times).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Need for syphilis screening and counselling in HIV counselling and testing centres: A curtain raiser study from north India

Nag

Dash

Pathak

et al. 2009

Australian J Rural Health

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Biological false positive serological tests for syphilis in the Jamaican population.

Cited by 21 publications

References 15 publications

Prevalence of infections affecting the child among pregnant women in Yaounde, Cameroon

Prevalence of infections affecting the child among pregnant women in Yaounde, Cameroon

Biological false-positive tests comprise a high proportion of Venereal Disease Research Laboratory reactions in an analysis of 300,000 sera

Need for syphilis screening and counselling in HIV counselling and testing centres: A curtain raiser study from north India

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