YNOT – After extensive research, doctors advising Adult Production Health & Safety Services have given their nod of approval to a new syphilis test that detects presence of infection within as few as 14 days after exposure. According to APHSS, the Treponemal EIA test is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is sensitive and specific in 99 to 100 percent of cases.

The new test is available at all APHSS-recommended testing sites and will be included the monthly performer panel from now on.

“This discovery provides the industry with a viable alternative to preventative treatment,” said Diane Duke, executive director for APHSS parent organization Free Speech Coalition. “Performers who have had preventative treatment will still be available to work 10 days after the date treatment was administered. For performers who have not had the treatment, the waiting time to begin performing has just been reduced from 90 days to 14 days.

Trep-Sure is the brand name of the Treponemal EIA test for syphilis that will be utilized by APHSS doctors,” Duke said. “This test, manufactured by Phoenix Bio-tech Corporation, is FDA-approved as a confirmatory diagnostic test for syphilis.”

The RPR syphilis test previously used by APHSS clinics was not considered reliable in detecting acute — or recent — infections. Therefore, in during an outbreak, performers were cautioned to undergo prophylactic antibiotic treatment or wait 90 days a retest to ensure they had not been infected.

Because the new test significantly shortens the period between exposure and detection of infection, APHSS has suspended the preventative treatment program it initiated last week and is asking performers who have not received prophylactic antibiotics to visit any APHSS provider and request a re-test, then test again 14 days later.

“This is great news for the industry,” Duke said. “Not only will we be able to use this test to confirm that performers are not infected and can work in a much shorter period of time, but also we will be able to identify those who may have an acute infection not recognized by the standard RPR syphilis test.”

Performers who already received a preventative shot or prescription will be cleared to work 10 days after receiving treatment, as long as they submit to a new panel of tests, including the Treponemal EIA test for syphilis, and all results return negative. That means performers who received preventative treatment on Aug. 22, the first day treatment was provided, will be able to perform beginning on Sept. 1. If they were treated Aug. 23, they will be available Sept. 2, and so on.

In any cases where test results return positive, immediate treatment is available through APHSS-recommended clinics. APHSS has partnered with clinics at thousands of locations nationwide; a complete list appears on the organization’s website.

“Our program has and will continue to seek out the best and latest testing and technologies for the health and well-being of our performers,” Duke said.

For more information about APHSS, the current alert and other health and workplace safety issues, visit APHSS.org.