NWT public health officials are launching a limited supply of rapid syphilis tests to try to control a growing outbreak of the disease and prevent it from being transmitted to babies.
Dr Kami Kandola, head of public health in the territory, said syphilis rates have “far exceeded” what they were when she declared an outbreak in 2019. She said there were 98 cases in 2021 and 47 cases during the first three months of this year. .
The Public Health Agency of Canada says infectious syphilis rates have risen substantially across the country over the past decade and many outbreaks have been reported in the past five years.
Sexually transmitted disease can first appear as painless open sores usually in the genital area and can be cured with antibiotics. If left untreated, the infection can cause permanent neurological problems and death.
Kelly Fredericks, a nurse at Yellowknife’s Frame Lake Clinic, draws blood from Kristan Boucher, a public health nurse, during a training session on how to use syphilis rapid test kits on Tuesday. (Liny Lamberink / CBC)
It can also cause serious health problems in newborns when transmitted from pregnant women to their babies, which is why Kandola said spreading the infection during prenatal care is his top priority.
“If a baby is born with congenital syphilis, this is a life of pain and sorrow,” he said during a media conference Tuesday, noting that most cases in the NWT are in residents who may have children.
So far, only two babies have been diagnosed with congenital syphilis in the NWT, Kandola said.
Dr. Ameeta Singh is a specialist in infectious diseases in Alberta, the only other jurisdiction where rapid tests have been used in Canada. He came to help train NWT nurses how to do the tests, and said that congenital syphilis in a baby can cause the liver or spleen to be too large, severe anemia, a “very nasty, that spill” rash. and death.
Dr. Ameeta Singh, an infectious disease specialist in Alberta, came to help train NWT nurses how to do the tests. (Liny Lamberink / CBC)
Singh oversaw a 19-month clinical trial that used a rapid test that detects syphilis and HIV in 1,500 participants in Alberta with more than 90% accuracy. Singh calls the tests a game changer, but they still need Health Canada’s approval, waiting for them to arrive by the end of the year, meaning the NWT needed special approval for 1,100 of them.
It’s better than nothing, Kandola said, but he expects them to “swallow very quickly” and expect more.
Kandola said syphilis rates in the NWT grew more than 1,100 percent in women and 484 percent in men between 2018 and 2021, and that he wants to test as many people as possible in a short period of time. time. Rates are higher in the Dehcho, Yellowknife region and the Hay River, followed by Fort Smith and the Sahtu region, he said.
The Northwest Territories Social Services and Health Authority (NTHSSA) is still in the process of acquiring the 1,100 tests from biolytic labs, Kandola said, and expects them to arrive in the coming weeks.
The test involves puncturing a person’s finger, drawing blood, mixing it in a series of solutions, and placing a few drops in a plastic sample collector that will give results in 15 minutes.
The test involves puncturing a person’s finger, drawing blood, mixing it with a series of liquids, and placing a few drops in a plastic sample collector that will give results with a pattern of circles in 15 minutes. (Liny Lamberink / CBC)
Quick results will allow healthcare professionals to immediately start tracking the contacts of a person who gives a positive. Without the quick test, Kandola said it can take days to get results from a lab. She estimates they have lost contact with five percent of patients during the follow-up process.
Stephanie Gilbert, territorial health health specialist at the health authority that will lead the deployment, said the tests will be used in places with the highest risk of syphilis infection.
The deployment plan is still under development and will be tailored to individual communities, he said.
“There’s no cookie cutter approach for surveillance and contact tracking. If there were, we wouldn’t have outbreaks across the country,” Gilbert said.