DEAR DR. ROACH: In October 2018 I was treated for syphilis, and had a VDRL titer of 1:128. A few months later, the titer was 1:8, but has stayed at 1:8 since then. Why hasn’t it gone down? — Y ...

Syphilis has had a major effect on several at-risk populations over time. Since 2000, for example, the increase in rates of primary and secondary syphilis in the United States has been largely ...

Low titers are oftenest found in late syphilis and high titers oftenest in early cases, but there is so much variation that routine quantitative reactions are of little value in differentiating ...

DEAR DR. ROACH: In October 2018 I was treated for syphilis, and had a VDRL titer of 1:128. A few months later, the titer was 1:8, but has stayed at 1:8 since then. Why hasn’t it gone down?– Y ...

Martin Tombe, MB, ChB . Response from David R. Haburchak, MD, FACP. A significant and continuing drop (4-fold or less) in VDRL titer is expected as a traditional test of cure for treated syphilis ...

Data from a large study of syphilis indicate a high rate of neurosyphilis in HIV-infected patients with a CD4-cell count less than or equal to 350 or a serum RPR titer greater than or equal to 1:32.