In order to reduce the impact of congenital syphilis, it is important to screen pregnant women. However, most standard syphilis tests require resources that may not always be affordable or available in a low income setting. That's why, in the most recent issue of PLOS Medicine, a group of scientists investigated whether point-of-care tests for syphilis could effectively detect syphilis in six low- and middle- income countries around the world. These tests are affordable, fast, easy to use, and require no special equipment.
The researchers found that it was easy to teach local health workers to use the tests. Furthermore, once point-of-care tests became available, the number of pregnant women screened for syphilis skyrocketed. In Uganda, more than 90 percent of women were screened for syphilis after the tests were introduced. Before they were available, less than 2 percent of women had been screened. Even more importantly, the immediate availability of test results also made it easier to treat women for syphilis. Almost every woman who tested positive received appropriate medication.
Of course, none of that would matter if the governments involved weren't willing to implement testing on a wider scale. That's why the best news from the study was that the point-of-care tests were so easy to use, and so useful, that every single country that participated in the study added them to their prenatal testing repertoire.
Source: http://std.about.com/b/2012/06/22/stopping-syphilis.htm
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