What is it and how is it passed on?
Syphilis is a bacterial infection, sometimes called 'the pox'. It has several stages: primary and secondary stages, which are very infectious, and the third or latent stage, which occur if the infection is left untreated.
Syphilis is easily passed on through:
- vaginal, oral or anal sex
- sharing sex toys
- intimate close body contact with syphilis sores or rashes
- from a mother to her unborn baby
You can't catch syphilis from hugging, sharing baths or towels, or from toilet seats or swimming pools.
Signs and symptoms
The symptoms of syphilis can be difficult to recognise and can be missed. They can take up to three months to show after sex with an infected person.
Primary stage syphilis:
- Three to four weeks after infection, one or more painless sores appear. In women, these may be on the vulva (lips of the vagina), urethra (tube where the urine comes out) or cervix (entrance to the womb). In men, they may be on the penis or foreskin.
- Sores can also appear around the anus and mouth in both sexes and are very infectious. They may take up to six weeks to heal.
Secondary stage syphilis:
- If the infection isn't treated, three to six weeks after the sores have gone the following symptoms appear: a non-itchy rash that covers the whole body; wart-like growths on the vulva or around the anus; a flu-like illness, including swollen glands, sore throat and headache; white patches in the mouth; patchy hair loss.
- These symptoms can last several weeks or months. Second stage syphilis is very infectious.
What happens if it isn't treated?
Once the sores and rash have cleared up, there may be no symptoms for many years. This is called third stage or latent syphilis.
Latent syphilis develops about ten years after first infection. It can cause very serious damage to the heart, brain, eyes, other internal organs and nervous system which can be fatal.
Testing and treatment
Tests shouldn't be painful, but may be uncomfortable. They may include:
- blood and urine samples
- taking a swab from the sores
- examining the genitals and entire body
- an internal examination for women
Treatment is simple during the primary and secondary stages, and involves either a single antibiotic injection or two-week course of antibiotic tablets. It can also be treated during the third or latent stage, but any damage done to the body may be irreversible.
Any unprotected vaginal, oral and anal sex should be avoided until treatment is completed and the infection has cleared up. Direct contact between the sores and rashes and a partner should also be avoided until treatment is complete.
To avoid re-infection, all sexual partners should also be treated.
Treatment can be safely given to pregnant women with no risk to the unborn baby. Left untreated, syphilis during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage or stillbirth.
Where to go for help and advice
You can talk to your GP or go to a genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinic. Such clinics diagnose and treat all STIs for free. They're completely confidential and your GP won't be informed without your consent. You can go to any clinic in the country for advice or treatment.
How to avoid STIs
1. Before you have sex, talk to your partner about how to protect yourselves.
2. A male or female condom can provide protection from most STIs if used correctly every time you have sex.
3. Become familiar with how to use condoms and have a supply ready.
4. Seek advice straight away if you think you've been at risk.
Syphilis News:
HHS to spend nearly $1.8M to review research volunteer rules, fight STDs in Guatemala; DOJ asks related lawsuit to be dismissed - "Responding to U.S. experiments that infected Guatemalans with syphilis and gonorrhea in the 1940s, the Obama administration announced Tuesday that it will spend $1 million to study new rules for protecting medical research volunteers," and "an additional $775,000 will go to fighting sexually transmitted diseases in Guatemala," the Washington Post reports.
Columbus?s crew may have brought back syphilis: Study - New research shows that syphilis ? a sexually transmitted disease was carried to Europe aboard Christopher Columbus' ships as they sailed home from the New World. The disease was not spread through sexual contact at the time, but adapted to survive once it got to Europe, Emory University researchers say.
Current U.S. rules, regulations sufficient to protect volunteers in federally funded research, report says - A report released last week by the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues examining federally sponsored research involving human volunteers, called "Moral Science: Protecting Participants in Human Subjects Research," said that "current rules and regulations provide adequate safeguards to mitigate risk," "recommended 14 changes to current practices to better protect research subjects, and called on the federal government to improve its tracking of research programs supported with taxpayer dollars," according to a Commission press release.
More evidence emerges to support that progenitor of syphilis came from the New World - Skeletons don't lie. But sometimes they may mislead, as in the case of bones that reputedly showed evidence of syphilis in Europe and other parts of the Old World before Christopher Columbus made his historic voyage in 1492.
Percentage of pregnant women living with HIV in South Africa increases, survey suggests - The percentage of pregnant women living with HIV in South Africa "has inched up to 30.2 percent from 29.4 percent last year," according to the annual National Antenatal Sentinel HIV and Syphilis Prevalence survey released by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi in Pretoria on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reports.
Annual report on sexually transmitted infections reveals rising trends - New figures reveal that cases of some common sexually spread diseases continue to increase in the United States. These numbers come in the annual report on sexually transmitted disease released by health officials this Thursday.
HIV and syphilis on the rise among MSM - Rates of HIV and syphilis are very high and rising among men who have sex with men (MSM) in New York City, reports a study in the November issue of JAIDS: Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
Nearly half of pregnant women in Southern China's poor areas do not get tested for syphilis, study shows - "Nearly half of pregnant women do not get tested for syphilis in poor areas of southern China where the sexually transmitted disease has seen a resurgence, researchers said Wednesday" in a study published in the WHO's November 2011 Bulletin, the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.
IFPA event to raise awareness of psoriasis on Oct. 29 - Psoriasis can be a truly devastating disease, as it not only affects your health but can also have a severe impact on how you live your life. Many people with psoriasis experience social stigmatization and discrimination on a more or less daily basis, in a wide range of settings; at school, at work, at the gym, in public bath houses.
Aborigines have higher STD rates than general Australian population - Aborigines in Australia have higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia than the country's general population, according to research by the University of New South Wales' Kirby Institute and reported on Tuesday at a sexual health conference, the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports.
All content within MensHealthOnly.com is provided for general information only, and should not be treated as a substitute for the medical advice of your own doctor or any other health care professional. MensHealthOnly.com is not responsible or liable for any diagnosis made by a user based on the content of MensHealthOnly.com website. |
