Can VDRL Syphilis At 4-7 Weeks Be Reliable? What If

Posted on Thu, 10 Oct 2019

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 10 Oct 2019 Answered on

Last reviewed on

Question : can VDRL syphilis at 4-7 weeks be reliable?
what if i had unprotected oral sex with sex worker 5 years ago and received negative result for syphilis now (in april and september when I took the test), does it mean that I don't have syphilis or it is in latent stage? i assume both tests are VDRL. Moreover, I never had any symptoms since then.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Kakkar (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Regardiing HIV and Syphilis

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to ask a doctor service. I have gone through your query and noted your concern.

To reliably rule out syphilis you need to take a specific test for it i.e TPHA (Treponema pallidum haemagglutination assay). VDRL is not a specific test for Syphilis. VDRL is used more often to measure response to treatment. As far as HIV is concerned, 5 years is a good enough time for a screening test to be considered reliable. You don't need to repeat HIV test.

Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if you need any more assistance

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D