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In response to the need for a syphilis test which follows the ASSURED acronym (Affordable- Sensitive- Specific-User friendly- Rapid- Equipment Free- Deliverable), a multi-centre evaluation of rapid syphilis tests was conducted.
The first stage of the evaluation was a multi-centre laboratory evaluation of nine rapid, point of care tests. The results of this evaluation were published here: http://sti.bmj.com/content/82/suppl_5/v7.full?sid=95f5ec2b-333b-4947-b2ac-3eb3ffdbefa0
Following the laboratory evaluation, a multi-centre field trial was undertaken to further evaluate the performance of four rapid syphilis tests which had the most promising results in the laboratory evaluation. The field evaluation was designed to determine the sensitivity, specificity and ease of use when the tests performed in field conditions by trained nurses and with whole blood. The results of this evaluation can be found here: http://sti.bmj.com/content/82/suppl_5/v13.full?sid=95f5ec2b-333b-4947-b2ac-3eb3ffdbefa0