Syphilis

Syphilis is a highly contagious disease spread primarily by sexual activity, including oral and anal sex. Occasionally, the disease can be passed to another person through prolonged kissing or close bodily contact with an infected person. Although this disease is spread from sores, the vast majority of these sores go unrecognized. The infected person is often unaware of the disease and unknowingly passes it on to their sexual partner.

Pregnant women with the disease can spread it to their baby. This disease, called congenital syphilis, can cause abnormalities or even death to the child.

Syphilis cannot be spread by toilet seats, door knobs, swimming pools, hot tubs, bath tubs, shared clothing, or eating utensils.

What Causes Syphilis?

Syphilis is caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum.

How Common Is Syphilis?

This sexually transmitted disease was once a major public health threat, commonly causing serious long-term health problems such as arthritis, brain damage, and blindness. It defied effective treatment until the late 1940s, when the antibiotic penicillin was first developed.

According to the CDC, the rate of new cases of syphilis had plummeted in the 1990's and in the year 2000 it reached an all time low since reporting began in 1941. However, since 2001 new cases are again on the rise.

How Do I Know If I Have Syphilis?

Syphilis infection occurs in 3 distinct stages:

Early or primary syphilis. People with primary syphilis will develop one or more chancre sores. The sores resemble large round bug bites and are often hard and painless. They occur on the genitals or in or around the mouth somewhere between 10-90 days (average 3 weeks) after exposure. Even without treatment they heal without a scar within 6 weeks.

The secondary stage may last 1-3 months and begins within 6 weeks to 6 months after exposure. People with secondary syphilis experience a rosy "copper penny" rash typically on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. They may also experience moist warts in the groin, white patches on the inside of the mouth, swollen lymph glands, fever, and weight loss. Like primary syphilis, secondary syphilis will resolve without treatment.

Latent syphilis. This is where the infection lies dormant (inactive) without causing symptoms.

Tertiary syphilis. If the infection isn't treated, it may then progress to a stage characterized by severe problems with the heart, brain, and nerves that can result in paralysis, blindness, dementia, deafness, impotence, and even death if it's not treated.

How Is Syphilis Diagnosed?

Syphilis can be easily diagnosed with a quick and inexpensive blood test given at your doctor's office or at a public health clinic.

If you have a chancre, your doctor will take a swab or scraping of the sore. It will then be sent to a lab to analyze under a microscope for the characteristic bacteria.