Assessment of One Year Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) and Treponema Pallidum Hemagglutination Assay (TPHA) Results in a Third Stage Public Hospital

Abstract Aim: Syphilis is a systemic disease caused by Trepanema pallidum, which is onlyan inperson pathogen. Serologic tests are frequently used in diagnosis of the disease. Screening with nontreponemal tests, which is essential forserologic diagnosis, and subsequent confirmation with treponemal tests. Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) from nontreponemal tests is now widely used for screening. Treponemapallidum hemagglutination assays (TPHA) are used for treponemal tests.In this study, it was aimed to retrospectively evaluate oneyear RPR and TPHA test results in a tertiary public hospital. Materials and Methods:In this study, a total of 3854serum samples sent to ？zmir Health Sciences University ？zmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital Serology Laboratory between 01.01-31.12.2017 for the diagnosis and follow-up of syphilis were evaluated. Serum samples wererun daily. Serum RPR (Plasmatec, UK) and TPHA (Omega Diagnostic, UK) tests were conducted in line with the recommendations of the manufacturer. Results: The RPR test was negative in serum samplesof 3187 (83%) patients over a one-year period. 616 (16%)patients were RPR and TPHA negative, and 36 (0.9%) wereRPR and TPHA positive. Eight of these 36 patients (0.2%)were HIV positive. In 15 patients (0.4%) RPR was negative and TPHA was positive. Conclusion: Syphilis is a chronic disease when not treated. It was important to diagnose quickly with the right choice of tests. The use of only one of the treponemal and non-treponemal tests is insufficient to diagnose. Both groups aresuggested to be used in the diagnosis of tastin diseas