Newly developed rapid tests for syphilis and HIV are heading to the NWT after trials in Alberta showed promising results.
While rapid HIV testing is not new, a rapid test for syphilis is only emerging in Canada and could help diagnose the disease at an innovative rate in areas like the NWT that are experiencing an outbreak.
The territory will be one of the first places in Canada to implement this test outside of Alberta.
Announcements.
Alberta Infectious Diseases Specialist Dr. Ameeta Singh and Clinical Studies Coordinator Noel Ives have been at Yellowknife since Monday to help train health professionals. They demonstrated the tests at the Yellowknife Ski Club on Tuesday.
The tests will soon be available at NWT’s sanitary facilities. Distribution will focus on areas considered most needed and at risk, which the territorial government said include Dehcho, Hay River and Yellowknife.
While traditional tests require a doctor to order a blood test and can take weeks to get results, new tests require a single stab of blood and can produce results in less than 15 minutes.
“It’s transformative for my practice,” Ives said during the demonstration, in which he performed a quick test on Dr. Singh.
Announcements.
Dr. Ameeta Singh and Noel Ives demonstrate a quick test at Yellowknife. Laurissa Cebryk / Cabin Radio
Rapid tests manufactured by BioLytical Laboratories, one of two that were part of a clinical trial in Alberta for the past 19 months, have not yet been approved for unrestricted use by Health Canada.
However, the NWT received special access approval for 1,100 tests.
According to the director of public health, Dr. Kami Kandola, these tests have been ordered and should be received in the coming weeks. He said the territory plans to ask for more as the evidence is used.
“Our plan right now is to make sure we do it with the voice of the community in mind,” Territorial Health Specialist Stephanie Gilbert said Tuesday.
“There will be planning sessions with community stakeholders from various regions, and we will try to implement a deployment for each region and community that is based on their individual needs.”
The NWT plans to monitor the results to see how rapid tests affect the outbreak.
Alberta Clinical Trial
During the 19-month clinical trial, which tested 1,500 participants in Edmonton and northern Alberta, the tests were found to be more than 90% accurate. The speed of the results means patients can start treatment at the same appointment, whereas previously, Singh said, about 20 percent of those tested would not return for results and could be difficult to locate.
Thanks to the rapid tests, Singh said, about nine out of 10 newly identified infectious cases received treatment at the same time the test was delivered. That will be the goal in the NWT.
“We know for a fact that not everyone will want to accept immediate treatment,” Singh said. “They may want to wait for the results of our standard tests. But we really hope we can reach or exceed 90 percent of being treated at the time of the visit to the point of care.”
Syphilis in the NWT
From early 2019 to April 2022, the NWT reports a 253 percent increase in syphilis cases, meaning the territory says cases have tripled.
Two cases involved congenital syphilis, where a mother transmitted the disease to a newborn during pregnancy. According to a 2021 GNWT statement, most cases were seen in Yellowknife.
From 2021: the outbreak of syphilis is two years old. Has anything changed?
Dr. Kandola declared an outbreak of syphilis in the territory in August 2019. However, the Covid-19 pandemic affected the amount of health services they were able to carry out.
A poster of a GNWT Syphilis Awareness Campaign in 2019.
In the past four years, Kandola noted, it is reported that cases of infectious syphilis in the NWT among women have increased by more than 1,100 percent. He said such high rates in women of childbearing age are a major concern.
“If a baby is born with congenital syphilis, it’s a life of pain and sorrow,” she said. “And it can be avoided, because syphilis is exclusively sensitive to the long-acting penicillin treatment we have available.
“So that’s my top priority.”
According to Singh, if a woman contracts syphilis in the last four weeks of pregnancy, the baby is virtually guaranteed to become infected.
By offering rapid tests for syphilis in the NWT, the hope is to create a specific campaign for the most at-risk groups. Rapid testing should also speed up contact tracing and slow transmission, ultimately avoiding neurological and other symptoms that can occur if the disease is not treated.
Syphilis is transmitted through unprotected sex and not all infected people will show symptoms.
“We want everyone who is sexually active in the NWT to take preventative measures, such as wearing a condom properly and getting tested often,” Kandola said in a press release.
“When syphilis is detected and treated early, it can prevent further transmission.”
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