Syphilis
What is it?
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by a bacterium called treponema pallidum. It was once called the pox and killed people in epidemic proportions. However, syphilis is now easy to treat and cases, until recently, have been rare.
The number of diagnoses in the UK more than doubled in the last two years, leaping from 327 cases in 2000 to 716 in 2001.
What causes it?
- Syphilis is transmitted through close body contact and/or vaginal, anal or oral sex with someone who's infected.
- The bacterium spreads from the sores of the infected person into the skin of an uninfected person.
- These sores aren't always visible, as they can appear inside the body.
- Syphilis can be passed from an infected mother to her unborn child.
Who is at risk?
- Syphilis is more common in men. Between 2000 and 2001, diagnoses in this group rose by 144%.
- The number of new cases in 2001 was highest among gay men. Diagnoses rose by 187% and outbreaks were clustered around London and Manchester.
- Sexual promiscuity and unprotected sex will greatly increase your chances of getting this infection. Using a condom properly offers the best possible protection against syphilis.
What are the symptoms?
Once infected, symptoms usually take two to six weeks to appear and are divided into four stages:
Primary syphilis:
- Small infectious sores or ulcers appear where the bacteria entered the body - usually around the genitals.
- These can last several weeks and may not be visible.
Secondary syphilis:
- Three to six weeks after the sores clear up, a non-itchy skin rash appears, which is highly infectious.
- The rash may have small brown sores. It can spread all over the body, especially to the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet.
- You may develop a fever, headache, sore throat and swollen glands
- Wart-like growths may appear around your genitals and your hair may fall out in patches.
- These symptoms can come and go and last a year or so. They may eventually disappear without treatment.
Latent syphilis:
- During this stage, which can last up to ten years, the infection isn't contagious and there are no obvious symptoms.
Tertiary or late syphilis:
- If left untreated, syphilis can lead to serious damage to the heart, brain, joints, bones, eyes and nervous system, resulting in blindness, paralysis, mental illness and heart disease.
- This stage can last for years and can result in death.
Diagnosis
Your local genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinic will be able to give you the necessary tests.
They will:
- Examine the infected area
- Possibly carry out an internal examination (on women)
- Take a blood test
- Take swabs from the sores
- Take a urine sample
Samples will be sent to a laboratory and results should return within ten days. You may need to have further blood tests to confirm that it is syphilis.
Treatment
- Stage one and two syphilis can be easily treated with a two-week course or injection of penicillin.
- If syphilis is at a later stage, it can still be treated with penicillin, but any complications (such as damage to the heart) will have to be treated separately.
- During treatment and until the syphilis has cleared up, you should not have vaginal, oral or anal sex, or any close bodily contact with your partner.
- You should get your partner(s) tested to avoid re-infection.
- If you're pregnant, you can still be tested and treated at no risk to your child. If you don't get treatment, you could pass syphilis to your baby or risk miscarriage or stillbirth.
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