OAN Staff Avril Elfi
Sunday, August 18, 2024 4:23 PM
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first at-home syphilis test in the United States, following a rise in syphilis cases.
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Dr. Michelle Tarver, acting director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, made the announcement about the testing.
“Having at-home testing available may help increase early screening for syphilis, including among people who are hesitant to talk to a health care provider about a suspected sexually transmitted disease,” she said. “This could lead to more testing to confirm the diagnosis, more treatment and potentially less spread.”
The test detects syphilis antibodies in human blood and provides results within 15 minutes.
Syphilis cases increased by 80% between 2021 and 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the number of syphilis cases among adults aged 19 to 45 has increased by more than one million worldwide, with positive cases peaking in Africa and the Americas.
Syphilis, a treatable sexually transmitted disease, can cause serious health problems if left untreated, including brain and heart damage and can lead to blindness and paralysis.
Additionally, the infection can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy, increasing the risk of miscarriage, chronic health problems, and infant death.
The CDC reported that the number of infections among pregnant women in the U.S. has tripled between 2016 and 2022. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued new guidelines after the study, recommending that pregnant women get tested for syphilis three times during their pregnancy.
The FDA suggests that people should undergo the new test and then have further testing by a medical professional to confirm a diagnosis of syphilis.
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