Most Viewed Abstracts
1. Report Shows Shift in Starting Salaries for Physicians 2. Recommendations on the use of 18F-FDG PET in oncology 3. Gene expression signatures, clinicopathological features, and individualized therapy in breast cancer 4. AHA Guidelines on Cardiac CT for Assessing Coronary Artery Disease 5. Rapid correction of low vitamin D status in nursing home residents
Top Ten Searches
etanercept hypertension chf antiphospholipid fibrosis mrsa scid renal cell rickets counterpulsationYour Article Summary
Dilemmas in the Management of Syphilis: A Survey of Infectious Diseases Experts
Clinical Infectious Diseases, 10/29/09
Dowell D et al. – The authors surveyed infectious diseases consultants to determine how they manage syphilis when there are insufficient data to guide management or when guidelines cannot be followed because of a lack of available definitive diagnostic tests. Most providers did not have access to dark–field microscopy. The authors found variation in management of syphilis, especially for patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection.
Dr Deborah Dowell, 11/04/09
| We found that most health professionals do not have access to the tests necessary to reliably diagnose syphilis in its earliest and most infectious stage. Definitive diagnosis of primary syphilis (the earliest stage of syphilis infection) relies on direct fluorescent antibody testing or darkfield microscopy, both of which are often unavailable in a clinical setting. Blood tests are commonly used to diagnose syphilis; however those tests may miss 20-30% of primary syphilis cases, allowing for the possibility of ongoing transmission. Eighty-one percent of our survey respondents did not have access to darkfield microscopy. These clinicians should treat presumptively if they suspect early syphilis in their patients. There is a clinical and public health need for a rapid point of care test to reliably diagnose primary syphilis. |
Related Articles
Factors Determining Serologic Response to Treatment in Patients with Syphilis
Clinical Infectious Diseases, 10/28/09
Relevance Score: 89%
Syphilis survey reveals need for accurate testing for early infection
EurekAlert, 10/23/09
Relevance Score: 87%
Usefulness of routine lumbar puncture in non-HIV patients with latent syphilis of unknown duration
Sexually Transmitted Infections, 10/22/09
Relevance Score: 87%
Possible Increase in HIV and Syphilis Prevalence Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Guangzhou, China: Results from a Respondent-Driven Sampling Survey
AIDS and Behavior, 10/20/09
Relevance Score: 87%
Posterior Uveitis Secondary to Syphilis
Clinical Medicine & Research, 10/09/09
Relevance Score: 87%
Today in Infectious Disease...keeping you current
Receive free subspecialty "5-minute updates" via email
Screening of some Tanzanian medicinal plants for their trypanocidal and cytotoxic activities
Phytotherapy Research, 12/09/09
Routine versus clinically driven laboratory monitoring of HIV antiretroviral therapy in Africa (DART): a randomised non-inferiority trial
The Lancet - Early Online Publication, 12/08/09
Transmission dynamics of pulmonary tuberculosis between autochthonous and immigrant sub-populations
BMC Infectious Diseases, 12/08/09
Sponsor
Article Search
Sponsor
Sponsor


See Latest Articles


