A man who has a penile chancre appears in a hospital's emergency service. The VDRL test is negative. The most appropriate course of action for the physician in charge would be to

In men, the appearance of a hard chancre on the penis characteristically indicates syphilis. Even though the chancre does not appear until the infection is 2 or more weeks old, the VDRL test for syphilis still can be negative despite the presence of a chancre (the VDRL test may not become positive for 2 or 3 weeks after initial infection). However, a lesion suspected of being a primary syphilitic ulcer should be examined by dark-field microscopy, which can reveal motile treponemes.