Comparison of cardiolipin and treponemal tests in the serodiagnosis of yaws

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out in 1976 and 1977 to asses the value of cardiolipin and treponemal tests in the serodiagnosis of yaws. These tests were conducted on the sera of 661 children from a region where yaws is hypo-endemic. Results of the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL), rapid plasma reagin (RPR), Treponema pallidum haemagglutination (TPHA), T. pallidum immobilisation (TPI), and fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) tests were compared. The FTA-ABS test showed a weak reactivity (+) for 107 (16.2 per cent) sera and these children had no history and no signs or symptoms of treponemal disease. The FTA-ABS test can be used as a confirmatory test for yaws instead of the TPI test, if only the results of sera showing an intensity of fluorescence scored as ++ or more are considered to be positive. There appeared to be no significant differences in the results of the VDRL, RPR and TPHA tests as screening tests for yaws when the TPI or FTA-ABS tests were used as reference tests