Syphilis

What is syphilis?

Syphilis is a serious bacterial infection. It is usually passed from one person to another by sexual contact. If it is not treated, syphilis can lead to permanent brain, nerve, and tissue damage.

How does it occur?

The bacteria that cause syphilis enter the body through an opening such as the vagina, mouth, or rectum. They can also enter through a cut or break in the skin.

During the early stages of syphilis, sores form on the body, usually near the genitals. If you touch a sore on an infected person, some of the bacteria will probably rub off onto your body. If the bacteria then get near any moist area of your body (such as the vagina, mouth, or rectum) or on any cuts or breaks in your skin, you may get syphilis. Once inside the body, the bacteria spread quickly through the bloodstream.

Sometimes a baby is born with syphilis if the mother has the disease during pregnancy.

What are the symptoms?

The symptoms of syphilis vary according to the stage of the disease. During the first stage, smooth, red, painless sores called chancres appear. People usually get chancres near the genitals, but they can form anywhere on the body. Women may not know they have a chancre if it is inside the vagina. Chancres on the penis can usually be seen. These painless sores may appear 10 days to 3 months after contact with an infected person. The sores last 3 to 6 weeks.

If you are infected with syphilis and you do not get treatment, the disease will develop into the second stage. This second stage is called secondary syphilis. It begins 6 to 12 weeks after contact with an infected person and may last for weeks to as long as a year. Symptoms during the second stage of syphilis can include:

• a pink or red, bumpy, scaling skin rash that does not itch and may come and go (you can easily infect other people with this rash, which may include spots on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet)
• brown sores about the size of a penny
• swollen lymph nodes ("glands")
• flu symptoms such as fever, body aches, sore throat, headaches, tiredness, and loss of appetite
• hair loss in clumps causing patchy baldness
• gray or pink patches of fatty tissue in damp areas of the body (also highly infectious)
• wartlike growths in the anal area.

The rash in the second stage usually heals within several weeks or months. Often the second stage of syphilis is followed by a latent period. During latent syphilis you have no symptoms even though you have not been treated for the disease. This latent period may last a few years or it may last a lifetime.

One in three people who have latent syphilis develop the third stage of syphilis. This third stage is called tertiary syphilis and starts anywhere from 2 to 30 or more years after the second stage. During this stage, the disease can affect the brain, the aorta (the blood vessel that leads from the heart), and the heart. This can lead to severe heart disease, brain damage, paralysis, and death.

How is it diagnosed?

Your healthcare provider will ask about your symptoms and examine you. Your provider will look for chancres on the skin, including the vagina, cervix, penis, and anal area. If you have sores, scrapings from the sores will be examined under a microscope to look for bacteria. Your provider may also test a sample of your blood.

How is it treated?

Syphilis is treated with shots or oral doses of penicillin. If you are allergic to penicillin, your healthcare provider may prescribe other antibiotics. Because these medicines may not be as effective as penicillin, you will need to be rechecked after treatment.

Cases of syphilis are required by law to be reported to the local health department. You must tell the proper authorities about all the people with whom you have had sexual contact, so they can be protected against the effects of syphilis.

How long will the effects last?

The symptoms and effects of syphilis can last from a week to a lifetime. If syphilis is treated with antibiotics during an early stage, the symptoms disappear after several weeks and the disease is cured. If the infection is not treated but becomes latent after the first or second stage, you will not have any symptoms but you will be at risk of developing secondary or tertiary syphilis. During the tertiary stage of syphilis, antibiotics can still be used to kill the bacteria causing the infection. However, any damage already done to the blood vessels, brain, and other organs will remain.

How can I take care of myself?

• Follow your healthcare provider's instructions and take all of your medicine as prescribed. Be sure to tell your provider if you are allergic to penicillin or other medicines.
• Ask your provider if you need to be tested for other sexually transmitted diseases.

What can be done to help prevent syphilis?

If you have syphilis, you can help prevent spread of the infection if you:

• Tell everyone with whom you have had sex in the last 3 months about your infection. They must also be treated, even if they have no symptoms. Do not have sex before both you and your partner have finished all of the medicine and your provider says it is OK.
• Do not expose other people to your body fluids and open sores. Do not have sexual intercourse or other intimate physical contact with anyone until you have been treated.
• Wash your hands after you use the toilet and before you touch any food, dishes, or utensils.

Even if you don't have symptoms but have had unprotected sex (without a condom), see your healthcare provider to be checked for sexually transmitted diseases. If you have been sexually assaulted and are at risk for having been infected, you should be treated.

You can reduce your risk of getting syphilis from someone else if you:

• Use latex or polyurethane condoms during foreplay and every time you have vaginal, oral, or anal intercourse.
• Have just 1 sexual partner who is not sexually active with anyone else. Make sure your partner has been tested for syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases.