Treponema pallidum IgG/IgM results

[scaredM]

Hello,

I'm receiving some fertility treatment, for this reason some STD tests were made. I've just
received the following results.

Hepatitis B HBsAg / ELISA: negative
Hepatitis C virus IgG / ELISA: negative
HIV-1,2 antibody, HIV-1 antigen / ELISA: negative
Treponema pallidum IgG/IgM/ELISA: positive (4.2)
Treponema pallidum / Syphilis RPR: negative
Treponema pallidum IgM immunoblot: negative (1)
Treponema pallidum IgG immunoblot: positive (8)

I did some basic research on these and trying to provide you with some additional
relevant information.
I'm 36, caucasian male, from Eastern Europe.
I've neither had any symptoms of syphilis, nor have I ever been treated with it,
as far as I know (don't know much about my early childhood). Since I'm sexually
active, I never received any treatment involving penicillin or other antibiotics.
My last exposure was just 4 weeks before the test.
How would you interpret all of the above? Could this be congenital?
Is it possible that I have infected a partner with syphilis?

Thanks in advance,
scaredM

[scaredM]

I may have received a treatment as a baby. I have penicillin allergy which was found out by that time but don't know how. My brother and I have an eye condition diagnosed as RP which has no further history in the family at all. Now I'm also wondering if it may be a mis-diagnosed ocular syphilis.
I don't know why these labs were drawn but I'll have an appointment with the fertility specialistctomorrow and I'll ask her. This may be common practice though here as my girlfriend also had the same tests.

[gracefromHHP]

no that is not the most likely scenario.

have you talked to the fertility specialist who drew the labs in the first place?  theses aren't the typical labs that are drawn.

if you had contracted syphilis in utero, you'd have definite health issues and odds are you wouldn't be alive today unless you had had treatment dear.

[scaredM]

Hi grace,
I'm in a long term relationship. She was tested same time as me, all negative (no sign of earlier infection either). We make love without protection. She was my first sex partner but I had a few one night stands over the last few years, some of them with unprotected oral sex. (Silly, I know.) The last one of these was 4 weeks before the test.
Is it possible that I had acquired syphilis without any symptoms and it disappeared without any treatment? That's why I'm considering congenital. In this case my parents and my brother may have to know about this, but it's not something you would come up with on a family dinner if you don't have to. So it would be great to know more about the possibilities of each scenario before letting anyone else know.

[gracefromHHP]

your rpr is negative but perhaps not a bad idea to just cover your bases with additional syphilis testing just to make sure.

has your partner that you are trying to conceive with been tested?

grace