SYPHILIS

Image

SYPHILIS

 

Syphilis is a highly contagious disease that’s mostly spread through sexual activity, including oral and anal sex. The infected person often doesn’t know that they have the disease and passes it on to their sexual partner.

Syphilis was once a major public health threat. It can cause serious long-term problems such as arthritis, brain damage, and blindness. There wasn’t an effective treatment until the late 1940s, when the antibiotic penicillin was developed. After the initial infection, the syphilis bacteria can remain inactive (dormant) in your body for decades before becoming active again. Early syphilis can be cured, sometimes with a single shot (injection) of penicillin. Without treatment, syphilis can severely damage your heart, brain or other organs, and can be life-threatening. Syphilis can also be passed from mothers to unborn children.

Symptoms: Syphilis develops in stages, and symptoms vary with each stage. But the stages may overlap, and symptoms don't always occur in the same order. You may be infected with syphilis and not notice any symptoms for years.

Primary syphilis: The first sign of syphilis is a small sore, called a chancre (SHANG-kur). The sore appears at the spot where the bacteria entered your body. While most people infected with syphilis develop only one chancre, some people develop several of them.
The chancre usually develops about three weeks after exposure. Many people who have syphilis don't notice the chancre because it's usually painless, and it may be hidden within the vagina or rectum. The chancre will heal on its own within three to six weeks.

Secondary syphilis: Within a few weeks of the original chancre healing, you may experience a rash that begins on your trunk but eventually covers your entire body — even the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet. This rash is usually not itchy and may be accompanied by wartlike sores in your mouth or genital area. Some people also experience hair loss, muscle aches, a fever, a sore throat and swollen lymph nodes. These signs and symptoms may disappear within a few weeks or repeatedly come and go for as long as a year.

Latent syphilis: If you aren't treated for syphilis, the disease moves from the secondary stage to the hidden (latent) stage, when you have no symptoms. The latent stage can last for years. Signs and symptoms may never return, or the disease may progress to the third (tertiary) stage.

Tertiary syphilis: About 15% to 30% of people infected with syphilis who don't get treatment will develop complications known as late (tertiary) syphilis. In the late stage, the disease may damage your brain, nerves, eyes, heart, blood vessels, liver, bones and joints. These problems may occur many years after the original, untreated infection.

Treatment: Syphilis is curable with quick diagnosis and treatment. But if it’s treated too late, it can permanently damage your heart and brain even after the infection is gone.

Media Contact:
Allison Grey
Journal Manager
Journal of Infectious Diseases and Diagnosis
Whatsapp no.-  +1(504)608-2390
Email: jidd@microbialjournals.com
Submit manuscript: https://www.longdom.org/submissions/infectious-diseases-diagnosis.html