USPSTF Issues Recommendations for Syphilis Screening

A new draft recommendation statement issued by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force suggests that non-pregnant adolescents and adults who are at higher risk for syphilis should be screened for the infection.

The grade A recommendation, which complements the task force’s 2009 recommendation to screen all pregnant women for syphilis, identifies men who have sex with men and HIV-infected patients as the main groups at increased risk for syphilis. “When deciding who to screen … clinicians should also consider other sociodemographic factors that are associated with increased prevalence rates.” These variables, according to the task force, include male sex combined with being younger than 29 years old, race and ethnicity, geography, incarceration, and sex work, according to the task force, which also notes that syphilis is more prevalent in Southern and Western states in metropolitan areas, and among African-Americans. In addition, the USPSTF says it found convincing evidence of the benefits of early detection and treatment among those in at-risk groups, and no direct evidence of harms as a result of screening.
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“All of the task force’s recommendations are meant to provide clinicians with the science behind the benefits and harms of the preventive service at hand,” says Francisco Garcia, MD, MPH, a member of the task force, director and chief medical officer of the Pima County Department of Health, and a distinguished professor of public health, obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Arizona.

“With this information, clinicians can help patients make informed choices about the care they receive that factor in the patients’ family history, as well as their values and preferences,” says Garcia.  

The draft recommendation is open for public comment until January 18, 2016.

—Mark McGraw

Reference:

USPSTF. Syphilis infection in nonpregnant adults and adolescents: screening. December 2015. http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/draft-recommendation-statement146/syphilis-infection-in-nonpregnant-adults-and-adolescents.