Kay Herman, Public Service Executive II
Kansas Health and Environmental Laboratories
Telephone Number: 785-296-1653

Serological testing for Syphilis is provided by the Serology section. Treatment for sexually transmitted diseases is essential to providing public health for the citizens of Kansas. Statute also requires all women to be tested in their first trimester of pregnancy. Testing aids in the identification of those individuals in need of treatment, including their contacts.

There are numerous approved laboratory procedures available for syphilis testing that are divided into two categories:

(1) Non-treponemal testing, used for screening:

VDRL
RPR
USR
RST
TRUST

(2) Treponemal testing, used to confirm screen-test positives:

FTA-ABS
FTA-ABS-DS
MHA-TP
ELISA
Darkfield microscopy

The KDHE laboratory uses the RPR screening test and a FTA-ABS-DS test as the confirmatory test for syphilis.