VIASURE Treponema pallidum Real Time PCR Detection Kit is designed for detection of Treponema pallidum in urogenital specimens from patients with signs and symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases.

This test is intended to be used as an aid in the diagnosis of Treponema pallidum in combination with clinical and epidemiological risk factors.

DNA is extracted from specimens, multiplied using Real Time amplification and detected using fluorescent reporter dye probe specific for Treponema pallidum. 

The spirochete Treponema pallidum (Tp), the etiologic agent of syphilis, causes a multistage sexually transmitted infection (STI). Pathogenic treponemes cause venereal syphilis, yaws, endemic syphilis, and pinta—multistage, infections that, although similar, can be differentiated based on clinical, epidemiologic, and geographic criteria.

Only venereal syphilis is transmitted by sexual activity. The pathogenic treponemes are uncultivatable, slow-growing microorganisms with identical flat-wave morphologies. They poorly tolerate desiccation, elevated temperature, and ambient oxygen tension, traits that explain why efficient transmission requires close personal contact.

Several types of laboratory test are available for diagnosis of Treponema pallidum. Serology, dark field microscopy and PCR are the gold standards to diagnose this pathogen. However, Real Time PCR assays have been shown to be a more sensitive and specific diagnosis tool for its detection.