Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress hp
Sign In
Advertise with Us
LGC Clinical Diagnostics

Download Mobile App




Rapid Diagnostic Test Evaluated for Yaws Infection

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 29 Sep 2014
Print article
Image: A primary yaws skin lesion on an infant patient’s leg (Photo courtesy of Dr. Oriol Mitjá).
Image: A primary yaws skin lesion on an infant patient’s leg (Photo courtesy of Dr. Oriol Mitjá).
The development of a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for serological diagnosis in the isolated communities affected by yaws is a key requirement for the successful implementation of the global control strategy.

Yaws is a non-venereal treponemal infection caused by a spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum ssp. pertenue (T. pertenue) which is currently thought to be endemic in fourteen countries and the emergence of azithromycin as an effective oral agent in the treatment of yaws has prompted renewed calls for a coordinated worldwide program to eradicate the disease.

Scientists the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (UK) working with colleagues from the Solomon Islands evaluated the utility of a Dual Path Platform (DPP) test in screening for yaws, utilizing samples collected as part of a community prevalence survey conducted in the Solomon Islands. The sera from four hundred and fifteen samples were randomly selected. The median age was 9 years, and 52.1% of participants were male. Individuals selected for this study did not differ significantly from the larger prevalence survey population with regards to demographic or clinical features. Clinical findings consistent with active and healed yaws were found in 19 (4.7%) and 34 (8.2%) respectively of the 415 participants.

Sera were tested using traditional syphilis tests, the Treponema pallidum particle agglutination assay (TPPA, Mast Diagnostics; Merseyside, UK) and a quantitative Rapid Plasma Reagin assay (RPR, Deben Diagnostics; Sheffield, UK) and the new RDT, the DPP Syphilis Screen and Confirm (Chembio; Medford, NY, USA). The investigators found 123 (29.6%) individuals had a reactive TPPA and120 (28.9%) individuals had a reactive RPR at any titer. By gold standard serology there were 18 individuals with a false positive RPR, defined as a positive RPR and negative TPPA. All false positive RPRs in the study had an RPR titer of 1:2. The overall prevalence of true RPR reactivity was therefore 102/415 (24.6%). The sensitivity of the DPP was strongly related to the RPR titer with a sensitivity of 92.0% for an RPR titer of greater than 1:16.

The authors concluded that the DPP test can be used as part of a community surveillance strategy to identify individuals who are dually seropositive with high-titer RPRs. These individuals are most likely to represent the major source of ongoing transmission. Wider access to DPP testing would improve the awareness of worldwide yaws case reporting and the test may play a key role in assessing patients presenting with yaws like lesions in a post-mass drug administration (MDA) setting. The study was published on September 11, 2014, in the journal Public Library of Science Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Related Links:

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine 
Mast Diagnostics 
Deben Diagnostics


Gold Member
Antipsychotic TDM Assays
Saladax Antipsychotic Assays
Verification Panels for Assay Development & QC
Seroconversion Panels
New
Respiratory Bacterial Panel
Real Respiratory Bacterial Panel 2
New
Bordetella Pertussis Molecular Assay
Alethia Pertussis

Print article

Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel
Image: The tiny clay-based materials can be customized for a range of medical applications (Photo courtesy of Angira Roy and Sam O’Keefe)

‘Brilliantly Luminous’ Nanoscale Chemical Tool to Improve Disease Detection

Thousands of commercially available glowing molecules known as fluorophores are commonly used in medical imaging, disease detection, biomarker tagging, and chemical analysis. They are also integral in... Read more

Immunology

view channel
Image: The cancer stem cell test can accurately choose more effective treatments (Photo courtesy of University of Cincinnati)

Stem Cell Test Predicts Treatment Outcome for Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer

Epithelial ovarian cancer frequently responds to chemotherapy initially, but eventually, the tumor develops resistance to the therapy, leading to regrowth. This resistance is partially due to the activation... Read more

Pathology

view channel
Image: The ready-to-use DUB enzyme assay kits accelerate routine DUB activity assays without compromising data quality (Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock)

Sensitive and Specific DUB Enzyme Assay Kits Require Minimal Setup Without Substrate Preparation

Ubiquitination and deubiquitination are two important physiological processes in the ubiquitin-proteasome system, responsible for protein degradation in cells. Deubiquitinating (DUB) enzymes contain around... Read more

Technology

view channel
Image: The HIV-1 self-testing chip will be capable of selectively detecting HIV in whole blood samples (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)

Disposable Microchip Technology Could Selectively Detect HIV in Whole Blood Samples

As of the end of 2023, approximately 40 million people globally were living with HIV, and around 630,000 individuals died from AIDS-related illnesses that same year. Despite a substantial decline in deaths... Read more

Industry

view channel
Image: The collaboration aims to leverage Oxford Nanopore\'s sequencing platform and Cepheid\'s GeneXpert system to advance the field of sequencing for infectious diseases (Photo courtesy of Cepheid)

Cepheid and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Partner on Advancing Automated Sequencing-Based Solutions

Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a leading molecular diagnostics company, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford, UK), the company behind a new generation of sequencing-based molecular analysis technologies,... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2025 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.