Interpreting the Results and Titer Levels When you receive the results of your examination, you will often see a numerical value alongside terms like "reactive" or "non-reactive. The titer, which is a measure of the dilution of your sample that still yields a positive reaction, helps clinicians gauge the activity and stage of the infection, with higher titers often correlating with current disease.
Understanding What Is A RPR Blood Test Reactive
Consequently, if your initial screen comes back positive, your doctor will almost always order a confirmatory treponemal test, such as the FTA-ABS or TP-PA. If reagin antibodies are present in your serum, they will bind to this mixture, causing visible clumping or flocculation that indicates a reactive result.
What the RPR Test Specifically Measures The primary purpose of the RPR test is to identify non-treponemal antibodies present in your bloodstream. These more specific assays target the actual antibodies directed against the Treponema pallidum bacterium, providing a definitive answer regarding the presence of the infection.
Understanding What Is A RPR Blood Test Reactive
Additionally, in the very early stages of syphilis, the antibody levels might be too low to detect, leading to a false negative where the test appears clear despite an active infection. A successful treatment course will show a steady decline in the titer levels, often resulting in the result becoming non-reactive over time, which signifies that the infection has been cleared.
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