Hello,
I was physically abused when i was 13 years old by two elders. I am 30 years old now. I got tested for all STD's for the first time and everything came up negative except syphilis. I never had anyother relationship except with my wife. The RPR is positive with 1:4 titer but the FTA-ABS is negative. I read that in teritiary syphilis(late latent syphilis) the treponemal specific antibodies may be negative in 2-4 % people. Below is the link.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3312652/
As in up to 30% patients nontreponemal tests may not be reactive, treponemal tests should be performed. However, 2–4% of patients with late syphilis will show negative results with treponemal tests also. As the number of organisms are too low in late stages, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique may be a very useful test in establishing a diagnosis.
What do i do now. Get a DNA PCR or not worry about syphilis.Please advise.