Wassermann test

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Wassermann test
The test was sufficiently familiar to American movie audiences that the 1934 exploitation film The Road to Ruin simply showed a card with a positive Wassermann test (misspelled in the film) without any further explanation to indicate a character had contracted syphilis.
SynonymsWassermann reaction
Purposeantibody test for syphilis

The Wassermann test or Wassermann reaction (WR)

complement fixation. It was the first blood test for syphilis and the first in the nontreponemal test (NTT) category. Newer NTTs, such as the RPR and VDRL tests, have mostly replaced it. During the mid-20th century, in many jurisdictions, including most US states, applicants for a marriage license were required by law
to undergo a Wassermann test.

Method

A sample of

antiphospholipid antibodies
(APAs). The intensity of the reaction (classed 1, 2, 3, or 4) indicates the severity of the condition.

Uncertainty

Administration of a Wassermann test at a clinic for Florida migratory farm workers in 1941.

The reaction is not specific to syphilis and will produce a positive reaction to other diseases, including

systemic lupus erythematosus, malaria, and tuberculosis. It is possible for an infected individual to produce no reaction and for a successfully treated individual to continue to produce a reaction (known as being "Wassermann fast" or "fixed").[citation needed
]

The Wassermann test is ineffective at identifying primary syphilis as sufficient reagin has not yet been produced from tissue destruction at this stage. Therefore, more effective methods have been a common research topic.[2]

Development and refinement

The antibody test was developed by Wassermann, Julius Citron, and

Bordet and Gengou
on complementing-fixation reaction, published in 1901, and the positive reaction is sometimes called the Bordet-Gengou-Wassermann reaction or Bordet-Wassermann reaction.

The Wassermann test has been refined with the

VDRL test and the RPR test, initially based on flocculation techniques (Hinton), have been shown to produce far fewer false positive results.[citation needed] Indeed, the "biologic false positives" of modern tests usually indicate a serious alternate condition, often an autoimmune disease
.

References

  1. PMID 20475495
    .
  2. ^ Stevens, Sara. "Wassermann Test". STDAware. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  3. Who Named It?
  4. ^ A Wassermann, A. Neisser and C. Bruck. Eine serodiagnostische Reaktion bei Syphilis. Deutsche medicinische Wochenschrift, Berlin, 1906, 32: 745–46. Announcing the test for syphilis.
  5. PMID 18012919
    .
  • Citron, Dr. Julius, "Immunity" (English translation) 1914 163–64

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wassermann_test&oldid=1198602782"