All You Need To Know About Syphilis

Syphilis is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and this disease is bacterial in nature. Syphilis is caused due to treponema pallidum, which is spread from one person to another chiefly through sexual contact.

You should keep an eye out for this infection even if you’re happily married or in the perfect relationship, as the complications that rise due to this condition are many. The disease strikes in four stages, and there are many signs and symptoms that you can note through each stage. This will help you identify the disease, so that you can opt for treatment fast.

Symptoms Involved With Syphilis

Syphilis is often mistaken for other skin diseases due to the varied symptoms that this disease brings. The four stages involved with this condition are the primary stage, the secondary stage, the latent stage and the tertiary stage.

1. In the primary stage of the disease, lesions appear at the point of sexual contact and these lesions are generally painless and firm. Lesions that appear in the genital region may bring discomfort, but these lesions will disappear within three to six weeks.
2. Some weeks after the primary infection, reddish pink rashes start appearing everywhere in the body. These rashes are non itchy and they come along with other symptoms like headache, hair loss, weight loss and malaise. Fever is also a prominent symptom during this time.
3. In the latent stage of the disease, the symptoms specified in the first two stages may relapse and occur again. The symptoms start appearing a year after the previous secondary attack.
4. In the tertiary stage, the disease attacks the central nervous system and causes dementia, seizures, lack of balance and shooting bouts of pain. Gummas, or tumor like balls start appearing in many places within the body and aneurysms are formed in the heart.

Causes Behind Syphilis

It is a well known fact that this disease is transmitted from one individual to another through sexual contact. Any form of intimate acts, including kissing, sexual intercourse, oral sex and anal sex can lead to the transmission of this disease.

Blood products that are transferred from one person to another can also cause this disease if the former has syphilis. Syphilis, however, is not transferred through needles as chances of infection through this way are minimal.

The disease can also be passed on from a mother to the fetus present within the mother. This is why it is important for pregnant women to get their sexual health checked regularly. Sometimes the disease may take a long time to show definitive symptoms. These must be immediately recognized, though, and reported to a doctor.

Diagnosis of Syphilis

Syphilis is normally diagnosed through the help of blood tests, and in some cases microscopic methods are also used to diagnose the disease. There are instances when blood tests for syphilis can show false positive results, and diseases like lymphoma, measles, varicella, malaria, tuberculosis, and endocarditis are the ones that can show false positive results.

A sample of the patient’s cerebrospinal fluid is also studied and the number of leukocytes in this fluid is calculated, along with the protein levels in the fluid. Neurosyphilis is detected by the physicians through this test.

Treatment Methods for Syphilis

There are many treatment methods for syphilis and patients are treated as per the intensity of the infection. It’s better to identify the disease during its early stages, as it can be treated with penicillin G during this time. Alternative medicines like tetracycline and doxycycline can also be used. These drugs should not be provided to pregnant women, though. Ceftriaxone can also be used for the treatment of syphilis during its early stages.

Syphilis becomes harder to treat when the disease enters its final stages. During the final stages of this disease, penicillin should be injected intravenously into the body for a period of at least ten days. Opting for such medication during this time of the month can help in preventing further damage due to this disease.

It should be noted that Herxheimer reaction is a common phenomenon that’s bound to occur when toxins are released into the body to fight syphilis. In order to kill the bacterial infection, toxins are released in the form of antibiotics. These bacteria die and endotoxins are immediately released, and this process occurs before the body can actually remove the toxins. This can cause some side effects during the treatment procedure, like skin lesions, myalgia, tachycardia, headaches, chills and fever.

About 90% of patients who suffer from secondary syphilis and 50% of all patients of who suffer from primary syphilis suffer from this problem (Herxheimer reaction). This reaction can last for a period of 24 hours. Syphilis, when untreated, can increase your risk of contracting HIV. It’s important that you constantly watch out for the symptoms of this disease, for this reason.