My Health Blog

Syphilis symptoms and treatment

Syphilis is caused by the transmission of the bacterium Treponema pallidum. You can catch syphilis by being in direct contact with a syphilis chancre (or sore) located on the mouth, lips, external genitals, vagina, anus or rectum of another person. The bacterium can be transmitted by vaginal, anal or oral sex. If you are pregnant, and you have syphilis, you can pass congenital syphilis onto your baby.

Syphilis is a caused by Spirochetal bacterium treponeme pallidum, a spiral shaped organism. It is a disease that is transmitted through sexual contact. However, there are examples, which show that it can be transmitted from a pregnant mother to an unborn fetus. The disease is alternatively referred to as the ‘great pox’, ‘Cupid’s’ disease or ‘Lues’. An Italian physician is said to have coined the name “syphilis”. The origin of the disease is traced back to the 13- 14th centuries and more often to the pre-historic times.

The first symptom of primary syphilis is a painless sore that is called as chancre (pronounced as “shanker”). The chancre can appear within 10 days to 3 months (usually 2 to 6 weeks) after exposure. Because the chancre is ordinarily painless and sometimes occurs inside the body, it may go unnoticed. It is usually found on the part of the body exposed to the bacteria, such as the penis, the vulva, or the vagina. A chancre also can develop on the cervix, tongue, lips, or fingertips. The chancre disappears within a few weeks, but the disease continues. If not treated during the primary stage, the disease may progress through three other stages.

Secondary syphilis is marked by a skin rash that appears anywhere from 2 to 10 weeks after the sore vanishes. The rash may, in fact, cover the entire body or appear only in a few areas, such as the palms of the hands or soles of the feet. Because active bacteria are present in these sores, any physical contact – sexual or nonsexual – with the broken skin of an infected person may spread the infection at this stage. The rash may be accompanied with flu-like symptoms such as fatigue, mild fever, sore throat, headache, as well as swollen lymph glands that is found all over the body, patchy hair loss, as well as other problems. The rash will usually heal after several weeks or a few months along with the rest of the other symptoms.

Syphilis is cured with antibiotics administered either intramuscularly, such as benzathine, ceftriaxone, or penicillin G, or orally such as doxycycline, tetracycline, minocycline, or azithromycin. Neurosyphilis is cured with a mixture of aqueous crystalline penicillin G, doxycycline or benzathine penicillin G. It is vital to maintain the levels of penicillin in the patient’s tissues at satisfactorily high levels over a phase of days or weeks since the spirochetes have a comparatively long duplication time. Penicillin is more successful in curing the primary stages of syphilis than the later ones. Doctors never actually order split medications for the ulcers and skin rashes of secondary syphilis. The person is informed to keep them dry and clean, and to shun from exposure to others to fluids or discharges.

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