I'm a 37 year old heterosexual male with a history of seasonal allergies and asthma (which i grew out of) and no prior history of STI's.   Several days ago,  I tested positive for the reactive RPR quant (1:1), all other tests were negative.  Thankfully, the Confirmatory T. palladium test was negative.  The last sexual encounter I had was with a single female friend whom I know is STI free.  This was in mid-late feb 2020.  This most recent STI panel was dated April 23rd 2020.  Prior to that, I had a STI panel in Janurary 2020 which was negative for all tests in the panel including RPR.  The January test likely should not have been ordered as I hadn't engaged in a sexual encounter in roughly 6 months prior to that test and i use protection.   My anxiety got the best of me.  I've read about false positive RPR tests and possible underlying illness distorting the results.  I'm in healthcare, and at times involved with covid patients.  Should I be concerned?  Should I investigate this further with my primary care provider?  I feel well to be honest.  No concerning symptoms.  My last well check was jan 2019 and everything checked out fine.   Thank you for helping those of us with questions.   

Welcome to our Forum and thanks for your question.  I’ll be glad to comment.  The short answer is that your test results are clear and indicate that you have a falsely positive RPR.  The history that you provide suggests that your risk for Syphilis is relatively low and your test RPR is falsely positive.  FYI, serological tests for Syphilis can be either repeatedly or transiently falsely positive.  Persons with allergies are amongst the groups more likely to have false positive tests.  The more a person tests, the more likely they are, on the basis of chance, to have a false positive result.  I would urge you not to worry about this test result.  EWH---