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Syphilis testing in antenatal care: Policies and practices among laboratories in the Americas

OBJECTIVE: To asses laboratory syphilis testing policies and practices among laboratories in the Americas. METHODS: Laboratory directors or designees from PAHO member countries were invited to participate in a structured, electronically-delivered survey between March and August, 2014. Data on syphil...

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Autores principales: Luu, Minh, Ham, Cal, Kamb, Mary L., Caffe, Sonja, Hoover, Karen W., Perez, Freddy
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6756481/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25979116
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.04.011
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author Luu, Minh
Ham, Cal
Kamb, Mary L.
Caffe, Sonja
Hoover, Karen W.
Perez, Freddy
author_facet Luu, Minh
Ham, Cal
Kamb, Mary L.
Caffe, Sonja
Hoover, Karen W.
Perez, Freddy
author_sort Luu, Minh
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: To asses laboratory syphilis testing policies and practices among laboratories in the Americas. METHODS: Laboratory directors or designees from PAHO member countries were invited to participate in a structured, electronically-delivered survey between March and August, 2014. Data on syphilis tests, algorithms, and quality control (QC) practices were analyzed, focusing on laboratories receiving specimens from antenatal clinics (ANCs). RESULTS: Surveys were completed by 69 laboratories representing 30 (86%) countries. Participating laboratories included 36 (52%) national or regional reference labs and 33 (48%) lower-level laboratories. Most (94%) were public sector facilities and 71% reported existence of a national algorithm for syphilis testing in pregnancy, usually involving both treponemal and non-treponemal testing (72%). Less than half (41%) used rapid syphilis tests (RSTs); and only seven laboratories representing five countries reported RSTs were included in the national algorithm for pregnant women. Most (83%) laboratories serving ANCs reported using some type of QC system; 68% of laboratories reported participation in external QC. Only 36% of laboratories reported data to national/local surveillance. Half of all laboratories serving ANC settings reported a stockout of one or more essential supplies during the previous year (median duration, 30 days). CONCLUSION: Updating laboratory algorithms, improving testing standards, integrating data into existing surveillance, and improved procurement and distribution of commodities may be needed to ensure elimination of MTCT of syphilis in the Americas.
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spelling pubmed-67564812019-09-23 Syphilis testing in antenatal care: Policies and practices among laboratories in the Americas Luu, Minh Ham, Cal Kamb, Mary L. Caffe, Sonja Hoover, Karen W. Perez, Freddy Int J Gynaecol Obstet Article OBJECTIVE: To asses laboratory syphilis testing policies and practices among laboratories in the Americas. METHODS: Laboratory directors or designees from PAHO member countries were invited to participate in a structured, electronically-delivered survey between March and August, 2014. Data on syphilis tests, algorithms, and quality control (QC) practices were analyzed, focusing on laboratories receiving specimens from antenatal clinics (ANCs). RESULTS: Surveys were completed by 69 laboratories representing 30 (86%) countries. Participating laboratories included 36 (52%) national or regional reference labs and 33 (48%) lower-level laboratories. Most (94%) were public sector facilities and 71% reported existence of a national algorithm for syphilis testing in pregnancy, usually involving both treponemal and non-treponemal testing (72%). Less than half (41%) used rapid syphilis tests (RSTs); and only seven laboratories representing five countries reported RSTs were included in the national algorithm for pregnant women. Most (83%) laboratories serving ANCs reported using some type of QC system; 68% of laboratories reported participation in external QC. Only 36% of laboratories reported data to national/local surveillance. Half of all laboratories serving ANC settings reported a stockout of one or more essential supplies during the previous year (median duration, 30 days). CONCLUSION: Updating laboratory algorithms, improving testing standards, integrating data into existing surveillance, and improved procurement and distribution of commodities may be needed to ensure elimination of MTCT of syphilis in the Americas. 2015-04-25 2015-06 /pmc/articles/PMC6756481/ /pubmed/25979116 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.04.011 Text en This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Luu, Minh
Ham, Cal
Kamb, Mary L.
Caffe, Sonja
Hoover, Karen W.
Perez, Freddy
Syphilis testing in antenatal care: Policies and practices among laboratories in the Americas
title Syphilis testing in antenatal care: Policies and practices among laboratories in the Americas
title_full Syphilis testing in antenatal care: Policies and practices among laboratories in the Americas
title_fullStr Syphilis testing in antenatal care: Policies and practices among laboratories in the Americas
title_full_unstemmed Syphilis testing in antenatal care: Policies and practices among laboratories in the Americas
title_short Syphilis testing in antenatal care: Policies and practices among laboratories in the Americas
title_sort syphilis testing in antenatal care: policies and practices among laboratories in the americas
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6756481/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25979116
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgo.2015.04.011
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