Syphilis Tools is a free point-of-care mobile and web app that provides healthcare professionals with instant information and CDC-based recommendations on syphilis screening, staging, serologic testing, treatment, monitoring, and sex partner management. Features include county-based syphilis rates to help assess patient risk, a syphilis serology (RPR/VDRL) titer tool, and medical illustrations.
“According to CDC data, most syphilis cases in the U.S. are not diagnosed in sexual health clinics. Combined with an infection that can go unnoticed in its early stages and requires complex testing, syphilis is one of the most complicated diseases clinicians diagnose and manage,” said Dr. David H. Spach, Syphilis Tools developer and National STD Curriculum Editor-in-Chief. Dr. Lindley Barbee, Acting Chief Medical Officer of CDC’s Division of STD Prevention, called the app “a game changer” for helping clinicians diagnose and care for patients with suspected syphilis.
The app provides practical information and interactive tools to support the syphilis continuum of care, including screening recommendations, test selection and interpretation, RPR/VDRL titer comparisons, stage identification using clinical criteria and more than 50 medical illustrations, treatment selection, treatment monitoring, and sex partner evaluation and management.
Developed and tested over two years by the University of Washington Infectious Diseases Education & Assessment (IDEA) Program and funded by the CDC, the app does not collect protected health information (PHI). It is available through the Apple App Store, Google Play, and as a progressive web app at std.uw.edu.
Created by NSTDC