As sad as it may be, today there are a huge number of various ailments that can lead to disastrous consequences. Therefore, at the first suspicious symptoms, you should immediately contact a qualified specialist for help.
Sexually transmitted diseases, or STD for short, are a group of very serious ailments that, if not properly treated, can lead to dangerous consequences. It is not difficult to guess from the name, in most cases, infection with them occurs as a result of promiscuous sexual acts that occur without the use of contraceptives. Modern medicine distinguishes a huge number of diseases, among which the most insidious is syphilis.
As the disease progresses, a global viral infection of the whole organism occurs, including the epidermis, mucous membrane, internal organs and bone tissue. In the absence of proper treatment, the patient dies a very painful death. Moreover, in the later stages, many irreversible changes develop, with which a person will have to live throughout his life even after the disease is defeated. Therefore, when the first symptoms of syphilis appear, you must immediately go to the hospital for an examination. But in order for the test results to be reliable, you need to know how to properly donate blood for syphilis. This will be discussed later in this article.
general information
If you carefully read the introduction, then you should not have any questions about why donating blood for syphilis. But everyone should be able to determine the presence of infection. The clinical manifestations in absolutely all people, regardless of gender and age category, are the same. The very first symptom is syphiloma. It is a dense round spot on the skin of a small size. Later, a painful ulcer forms in its place, which disappears after a certain period of time. Most people, however, mistakenly believe that they have recovered, however, this is far from the case. The disease will progress and affect the body further.
The second symptom of syphilis is spotty rashes throughout the body, which can be red or pink. This is a sign of the second stage of the disease, in which the patient can still be cured without any serious complications. Secondary syphilis can last from six months to several years. It all depends on the individual characteristics of the body of a particular person and the protective functions of the immune system.
Faced with this, each person should think about where to donate blood for syphilis, because if you do nothing, then the disease will develop to the third stage. It affects all internal organs, as well as soft and bone tissues.
What is a Wasserman reaction ?
Let's dwell on this in more detail. If you do not know where to donate blood for HIV, hepatitis, syphilis and other viral and infectious diseases, then you need to contact a dermatovenerologist and, based on a general examination and an oral survey, will refer you to the right office. Most often, patients with suspected syphilis are prescribed an RW analysis or, as it is more commonly known, a Wasserman reaction. This method of examination was invented more than a century ago, however, today it is one of the most accurate and informative.
If the patient has no signs of infection, then the results of the analysis are valid for no more than one month from the moment they are received. At the same time, doctors prescribe RW not only to people who independently came to the hospital with suspected syphilis, but also to all patients who are receiving outpatient treatment in the infectious ward.
When you decide where to donate blood for syphilis and come to the doctor’s appointment, they will take a small sample from you and add a special antigen to it. If he reacts with lipids, then this is a sign of the presence of pale treponema in the body.
It is worth noting that today there are several varieties of laboratory tests that allow you to diagnose syphilis.
But compared to them, RW has many advantages, the main among which are the following:
- high accuracy;
- the ability to choose the most effective treatment program;
- detailed picture of the patient’s health status.
It is worth noting that not only those people who have an active sex life and often change partners should have an idea about how to properly donate blood for syphilis, but also pregnant women, as well as patients who have to undergo surgery.
In what cases can the result be false positive?
In medical practice, it very often happens that a person donates blood for syphilis, receives a positive result, but he does not have any infection.
This may be a sign of the following diseases:
- pneumonia
- malignant tumor;
- tuberculosis
- myocardial infarction;
- autoimmune diseases;
- recent antiviral vaccination;
- traumatic injury.
In addition, a false-positive result is the norm in women during pregnancy and during menstruation, as well as in people who use drugs and abuse alcohol. At the same time, representatives of the fair sex like this occurs most often. Therefore, if your girlfriend or wife donated blood for syphilis (a pregnant woman is not taken into account), then do not panic right away. Most likely, she has no health problems, and a positive result for the Wasserman reaction is caused by some other reason.
Classification of laboratory diagnosis of syphilis
So what is she like? If you decide to donate blood for HIV, syphilis, then you need to have at least the slightest idea about the main methods of diagnosing these sexually transmitted diseases. In the early stages of the course of the disease, the bacteriological method, serological tests and many others can be used.
Regardless of the technology, all laboratory tests are conditionally divided into two categories:
- Direct - optical microscopy, PCR, serological and RIT testing.
- Nontreponemal - RSK, RPR, RPM, RIT, ELISA, RIF, immunoblotting and others.
Each of the above analyzes is very complex and includes a whole range of activities. Nevertheless, they are all very informative and allow doctors to make an accurate diagnosis and determine not only the presence of the virus in the body, but also the stage of the disease. To date, a lot of people are turning to Invitro. Donating blood for syphilis here guarantees complete sterility and safety.
There are branches of this laboratory in almost every large settlement of the Russian Federation. So if you live, for example, in Sterlitamak, you can also donate blood for HIV and syphilis at Invitro, at ul. Communist, d. 41.
Nontreponemal techniques
Talking about how to donate blood for syphilis, it is necessary to say a few words about non-treponemal methods of research. They are aimed at detecting a special group of proteins that are formed only by a pale spirochete. Compared to direct laboratory tests, they are less accurate, and therefore often produce incorrect results.
RW Analysis
So, actually we came to the answer to the question of how to donate blood to syphilis. Having noticed the first symptoms of the disease, you need to contact a dermatovenerologist who will perform a survey and a general examination, and on the basis of the information received will prescribe the necessary tests. In most cases, patients are sent for a Wasserman reaction, since this method is one of the most accurate. With it, in just a few minutes, you can confirm the presence of syphilis, if the patient was really infected with pale treponema.
For research, not only blood, but also cerebrospinal fluid can be used. If there will be one analysis, then the fence is carried out from the finger, and for complex diagnostics, samples from a vein are required. It is important to understand when it is possible to donate blood for syphilis. If a little time has passed between infection and the patient’s visit to a medical institution, then the tests may not show anything.
Diagnostic algorithm
If you decide to have a blood test for AIDS and syphilis, then it is better to do this at least two months after the alleged infection. Before going to the doctor there isn’t much point, since the pale treponema will not have time to get into the bloodstream and spread throughout the body, so the results can be false negative.
At the primary and secondary stages of the disease, as well as with secretive syphilis, a microprecipitation reaction and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay are most often prescribed. If the doctor has any doubts about the reliability of the results, then he can additionally send the patient to RPGA.
If the patient goes to the hospital with secondary syphilis, instead of blood, skin rashes can be taken for analysis, which are examined in detail under a microscope. In the later stages of the disease, some tests completely lose their effectiveness, because they often provide false results. To prevent this, it is recommended that you first prepare your body for a doctor's visit.
Preparatory activities before the examination
In order for the test results to be as accurate and reliable as possible, blood for syphilis must be donated on an empty stomach. Therefore, in the morning you need to refuse breakfast, as well as drinking, tea, coffee and other drinks, in addition to still water. Also, in the evening, it is better to refrain from too fatty, salty and fried foods.
In addition, the following rules should be observed:
- 7 days before the examination, all medications are stopped.
- Do not drink alcohol.
- Only light and easily digestible food is eaten per day.
These requirements are mandatory. If a blood test confirms infection with syphilis, then a therapy program is selected based on the stage of the disease, as well as a number of other criteria.
In what cases is the Wasserman reaction prescribed?
This issue should be given special importance. Screening for any STDs is mandatory in the following cases:
- The presence of syphilis in one of the partners.
- Clinical manifestations of the disease.
- Pregnancy planning.
- Drug addiction.
- Enlarged inguinal lymph nodes, palpation of which is painless.
- Patient admission to outpatient treatment.
- Blood transfusion.
- Passing a medical examination with a view to employment.
- Re-examination after completing a full course of syphilis therapy.
In addition, each person who values ​​their health can undergo an examination on their own to make sure that he has no problems. Doctors themselves recommend periodically doing this to people who have regular sexual relations with casual partners or who do not use contraception during intercourse.
When is sampling prohibited?
This article described in detail how to donate blood for syphilis, however, this is not always allowed.
Examination of the alleged patient can not be performed in the following cases:
- if the patient has significantly increased body temperature;
- infectious diseases are actively occurring;
- during menstruation in women;
- in the later stages of gestation;
- if less than 24 hours have passed after drinking alcohol;
- in newborns and children under the age of 3 years.
If blood is taken in any of the cases listed above, then there will be no use in this. The thing is that during a disease or hormonal failure in a person, the chemical composition of the blood is disturbed, so the Wasserman reaction will show a positive result, however, in fact, there may not be any infection. To avoid unnecessary problems, before going for analysis, it is recommended to consult a venereologist and ask him to provide detailed information on how to donate blood to syphilis.
How much will the verification cost?
It is impossible to unequivocally answer this question, since the specific amount depends on a large number of factors. The main among them is the methodology of laboratory research, as well as the type of medical institution. In public hospitals, the cost of patient care is relatively low, while private clinics charge more for the same procedures. In addition, the region of residence plays an important role. For example, in Moscow, prices for treatment are higher than anywhere else in the country.
In commercial laboratories, you can undergo a microprecipitation reaction, Rapid Plasma Reagin and some other tests for about 400-500 rubles. Moreover, the cost will be higher if you need to explore several varieties of biological materials. But you must remember that each private hospital has its own prices, so the prices shown are average.
The most expensive type of analysis today is considered an immunoblot. In some cases, several thousand rubles can be paid for it. But if your doctor still prescribed any tests, then regardless of the price it is recommended to take them. The obtained results will not only confirm or disprove the presence of the disease, but will also determine the exact time during which the infection progresses, as well as make the most productive treatment program.
Conclusion
In the Middle Ages, syphilis was one of the most dangerous ailments that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people around the world. But today the level of development of medicine is very high, so there are practically no incurable diseases. The main thing is to start treatment on time, because not only the disease is terrible, but the negative consequences that it leads to. Therefore, if you notice a symptomatology characteristic of syphilis, then immediately go to the venereologist. In general, it is better to protect your health and always protect yourself, especially if you often change sexual partners.