Surely many were assigned an analysis on RW. What it is? This abbreviation is deciphered as a Wasserman reaction, and the study is conducted with the aim of diagnosing syphilis. This method belongs to the category of screening, that is, aimed at the early detection of diseases in asymptomatic patients. This type of diagnosis is often used in mass screening.
It should be said that the results that the RW analysis shows cannot be called guaranteed. So, a positive or negative reaction does not yet indicate the presence or absence in the body of the causative agent of syphilis - pale treponema. Thus, the RW analysis is an indicative method, which, however, allows you to identify the disease at an early stage. Accurate diagnosis of syphilis is carried out by specific (treponemal) methods.
If a negative result of the analysis is obtained, then this can indicate both the absence of the disease and the fact that it is still in the primary stage, or, conversely, in the late, tertiary. That is, in the first two to three weeks after infection, the reaction may be negative.
A positive result does not always indicate infection with treponema. In medicine, there is such a thing as a false positive reaction, which can be associated with a number of diseases: viral hepatitis, oncology, tuberculosis, drug addiction, diabetes mellitus. In addition, such a “response” of the body is possible during pregnancy, the state after vaccination, and when a number of foods are consumed before blood donation.
The Wassermann reaction is the first and easiest to implement method for detecting a disease. An RW test involves fasting venous blood. The causative agent of syphilis, as already mentioned, is a spiral-shaped microbe - pale treponema (spirochete). Outside the human body, she is able to live up to 4 days, which explains the risk of asexual infection.
This analysis is based on the fact that in healthy people in the blood there is a hemolysis process (destruction of red blood cells), which is absent in patients. There are two stages of primary syphilis: sero-negative (RW negative, other research methods are required) and seropositive, which can have a different degree of reaction: + and ++ - mild, +++ - positive, ++++ - sharply positive. As a rule, most people with syphilis have a positive result after only 7 weeks.
The following categories of citizens are obliged to donate blood to RV in our country:
- blood, tissue, sperm donors;
- admitted to the hospital for treatment;
- doctors;
- catering workers;
- sellers of food products;
- workers of preschool institutions;
- people who came into contact with patients;
- Patients with suspicious symptoms: enlarged lymph nodes, aching bones, fever for a month or more.
In addition, the direction to the analysis of RW can get:
- citizens undergoing a physical examination;
- women preparing for conception;
- persons who have had casual sex;
- patients at the stage of preoperative preparation;
- Patients who consulted a doctor about abundant secretions from the genital tract, rashes on the skin and in the mucous membranes.
So, the main goal of the analysis on RW is the identification of syphilis in the early stages, since for a long time the disease can occur without manifestations.