It has long been known that the sooner a person has a disease, the easier it is to get rid of it and the more likely it is to not get any complications, although sometimes it is even about life.
Syphilis is one of such diseases, which often proceeds imperceptibly. A person may not suspect that he has such a dangerous disease. A syphilis test (RW) helps diagnose a disease as early as possible. Luez is an older name for syphilis, which refers to chronic diseases. This disease causes the treponema bacterium, or pale spirochete, which scientists discovered in the early 20th century. This bacterium in shape resembles a spiral and has from five to twenty-four curls of 1 micron in length. The spirochete is called pale because it refracts light poorly and is practically not affected by aniline dyes. This microorganism can live in the environment for about four days, preferring a low temperature. In this regard, there is the possibility of a domestic way of infection with syphilis.
Syphilis can be transmitted to the baby before birth from the mother through the placenta. This can happen in the first three years of illness of the mother.
There are several periods of the course of the disease, which differ in symptoms and consequences. If it is too early to diagnose syphilis and begin treatment, subsequent stages may not occur.
The periods of the course of syphilis:
incubation - lasts 20-40 days from the moment of infection;
primary - begins with the appearance of hard chancre, from the moment of the first generalized rash ends (about seven weeks) and the secondary period begins. It lasts up to four years until tertiary syphyloids (gum tubercles) appear. The tertiary period is characterized by various unpleasant manifestations, such as softening of the bones. It lasts until death.
A blood test for syphilis helps in the early diagnosis of the disease, regardless of the manifestations. In the later stages of the disease, tissue fluid from ulcers and lymph from the lymph nodes are taken for examination. Blood for analysis for syphilis is taken in the morning on an empty stomach. Such an analysis is based on the fact that in the blood serum of patients with syphilis there are antibodies against the pathogen. If a person is healthy, they are absent in the body. The presence of a hemolysis process (destruction of red blood cells) is considered a negative reaction. The absence of hemolysis makes it necessary to assess the degree of reaction, depending on the period of the disease (one to three pluses are marked, depending on the severity).
The test for syphilis is always positive in the secondary period. In primary syphilis, the body can behave differently: the first two and a half weeks of illness, the analysis can show a negative reaction, at 5 or 6 weeks of illness, only a quarter of patients have a positive reaction, at 7-8 weeks, analysis for syphilis shows a positive result in 70- 80% of patients. A false-positive test for syphilis occurs in 3-5% of healthy people.
Often during mass examinations, an analysis of syphilis is carried out using a selection reaction - blood, blood serum (active, inactive) and plasma are dripped dropwise on the glass, and cardiolipid antigen is added. In healthy people, the reaction is negative. If the test for syphilis gives a positive result, thorough body tests are carried out, allowing you to make a final diagnosis.