Online-mediated syphilis testing showing promise

Between 1998 and 2004, the annual number of infectious syphilis cases in Amsterdam increased from 35 to 240, Koekenbier and colleagues point out in the journal Sexually Transmitted Diseases. In 2004, most of the new infections (84 percent) were in men who have sex with men.

To respond to the current epidemic of syphilis among gay men, the investigators developed a web site that supplied information about the disease and motivated users to download a referral letter for a syphilis test. The participants could retrieve their results online 1 week after the blood test.

Over 15 months, a total of 898 visitors downloaded referral letters. Of these, 93 men (10 percent) got tested. Ninety of 93 (96 percent) obtained their results from the web site.

Overall, 14 of the 93 men tested (15 percent) had a positive test. Of these, four did not confirm their test results at the STI clinic. Of the 10 positive men who did visit the STI clinic, 3 (33 percent) had never attended the clinic before.

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