title: Analysis of the clinical diagnosis data of four experimental detection methods for pediatric syphilis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical testing data of syphilis suspected children, to give more comprehensive detection information and offer experimental basis for the clinical diagnosis of syphilis.
  
  
  METHODS
  From April 2010 to December 2012, 141 suspected syphilis children, 0-3 years old in XuZhou Children's Hospital were selected and divided into two groups: infants group (0-1 years old, 119 cases) and children group (1-3 years old, 22 cases). Blood samples were collected from these children and following experimental detection methods were used: the rapid plasma reagin (RPR) test, the colloidal gold test (SYP), the enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA) and the Treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA) test. The relevant experimental data were analyzed by SPSS 13.0 software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The positive rate of ELISA was the highest, RPR was the lowest; the positive rate of SYP and TPPA were higher than RPR, the positive rate of SYP and TPPA were lower than ELISA, and the differences were statistically significant. Among the 86 false positives, the rate for ELISA was the highest, and no TPPA false positive was found. False positive were higher in the children group than the infant group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High false positive rate of ELISA could be caused by hemolysis. RPR had low sensitivity in suspected syphilis neonates, and SYP was suitable for emergency treatment. TPPA was fit for the diagnosis of syphilis. Thus a combination of all these methods would be the best choice to cure syphilis infection in children. Final diagnosis can only be confirmed after periodically reexamining samples of suspected syphilis children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Xuzhou Children's Hospital, Xuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xianxiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Xuzhou Children's Hospital, Xuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Lijun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Xuzhou Children's Hospital, Xuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Huaxin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection, Xuzhou Children's Hospital, Xuzhou, China - haomiaosun@126.com.
authors.forename: Haomiao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000379:methods; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013588:Syphilis Serodiagnosis / Q000379:methods*; D013590:Syphilis, Congenital / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000302:isolation & purification*