Content Information
A. Purpose of Surveillance and Reporting
- To interrupt disease transmission, Iowa HHS provides partner counseling and referral services for persons recently diagnosed with syphilis infection, and their exposed partner(s).
- To monitor trends in syphilis diagnoses so that prevention and treatment funds may be targeted efficiently, and prevention programs may be evaluated.
- To monitor perinatal exposures to syphilis infection and morbidity in infants born to syphilis-infected women.
B. Laboratory and Healthcare Provider Reporting Requirements
Iowa Administrative Code 641-1.3(139A) stipulates that the laboratory and healthcare providers must report syphilis. Laboratory personnel should forward results of tests directly to Iowa HHS.
All confirmed laboratory diagnoses of syphilis are to be reported to the Iowa HHS STD Program by mail or phone.
Healthcare Providers must complete an “Iowa Confidential Report of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV Infection” morbidity report within 3 days of diagnosing a positive syphilis infection. Healthcare Providers are to provide a date of birth, home address, phone number and treatment information on each reported case. Providers should also report any partner information that is available, including treatment information for the partners.
The State Hygienic Laboratory will be discontinuing the confirmatory syphilis Fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption test (FTA-ABS) effective 1 Feb 2015. Scientific literature notes that while the FTA-ABS is highly sensitive and specific, it has been known to produce variable results due to variation in equipment, reagents and interpretation. Additionally, the CDC and other agencies recommend replacing the FTA-ABS with the Treponema pallidum – particle agglutination (TP-PA) test which is currently performed at SHL. The TP-PA test is less complicated than the FTA-ABS test, and the results are more accurately interpreted.
Laboratory personnel should forward results of tests directly to the Iowa HHS STD Program. ”Iowa Confidential Report of Sexually Transmitted Diseases and HIV Infection,” “Laboratory Report of Tests Processed for STD,” and postage paid envelopes (coded #00) are available.
Send completed reports to the address below:
Iowa HHS
STD Program (#00)
321 East 12th Street, 5th Floor
Des Moines, IA 50319-0075
C. Local Public Health Agency Follow-up Responsibilities
Case Investigation
Partner notification and referral services will be provided by Disease Prevention Specialists employed by the IDPH, or by Black Hawk, Linn, Polk, or Scott county health departments.