El papel de los laboratorios de salud en el diagnóstico de las enfermedades venéreas

Abstract

The first requirement for the clinical diagnosis of syphilis is for the physician to regard everyone of his patientes as possible victims of this disease and to have at hand the necessary basic information for confirming his suspicions. The lack of information about veneral diseases which plagues both physicians and the general public must be remedied. The situation of public health laboratories in Latin America is unsatisfactory both with regard to their equipment, materials and instruments, and the preparation of their personnel and their salaries. Steps should be taken to set up a network of laboratories to which patients, contacts, and specimens can be referred. Among the diagnostic laboratory techniques which should be used more often because they are adapted to the resources available in Latin America, mention should be made of the following: reagin tests with cardiolipin-lecitin antigens; the fluorescent antibody-absorption tests. For serological examinations in areas distant from established laboratories, it is advisalbe (1) to use the rapid plasma reagin (teardrop) test and (2) by pricking the finger to collect whole bood samples on pieces of special absorbent paper, drying in the fresh aire and subsequently washing. In the case of gonorrhea, definite diagnosis depends on the identification of the etiological agent, irrespective of what the clinical manifestations might be. Recent