Causes and symptoms of syphilis
What is syphilis?
Syphilis is a systemic chronic venereal disease of an infectious nature. It affects the skin, mucous membranes, internal organs, bones and the nervous system. The disease is caused by Treponema pallidum bacteria. Syphilis is transmitted primarily through sexual contact, less often through blood or through household use.
Depending on the stage and course of the disease, syphilis can be primary, secondary, tertiary and congenital.
Primary syphilis is characterized by the appearance of a hard chancre and lymphadenitis. Secondary syphilis already affects all systems, tissues and organs of a person. Tertiary syphilis is fatal and occurs if the disease is not treated for a long time. Congenital syphilis is transmitted to the baby through the placenta from the mother.
Syphilis is caused and caused by a bacterium called Treponema pallidum. It usually enters the body through mucous membranes, wounds on the skin and through the blood. Syphilis patients are contagious to the people around them.
The main route of transmission of the disease has always been sexual contact. Less commonly, syphilis is transmitted by household means: through dishes, cigarettes, personal hygiene items, etc. The medical staff is also susceptible to the disease: obstetricians, gynecologists, dentists and laboratory workers in contact with patients. Infection is also possible through saliva if syphilitic elements are contained in the mouth of a sick person. Syphilitics' urine and sweat are not contagious, but breast milk and semen are. The likelihood of contracting syphilis during direct blood transfusion is rather low. Congenital syphilis is possible with placental transmission of infection from mother to fetus.
It has been proven that the number of pale treponema bacteria that enter the body of a healthy person affects the likelihood of infection. Thus, people who have had repeated sexual contact with an infected person are much more likely to become infected than those who have had a single sexual contact.
The main early symptom of primary syphilis is the appearance of a chancre (ulcer). This symptom manifests itself in the second to fourth week after infection. Most often, chancres do not cause pain. Usually they are localized on the genitals, near the anus, on the lips, in the mouth, or on the part of the skin where the pathogen has penetrated. What does chancre look like? At first, it is a dull red spot, then a papule is formed, which after a while turns into an ulcer. The chancre usually heals after a month, and a person may have a false impression of recovery, but this is just the end of primary syphilis.
The onset of secondary syphilis occurs in the first to sixth months after the chancre heals. On the patient's skin, rashes of a pinkish or pale red color appear, appetite worsens, body weight decreases, hair falls out, pains in joints, throat, and headaches disturb. Condylomas form on the genitals. The symptoms of secondary syphilis appear within three to six months, after which the patient is no longer contagious. The disease is in a latent stage, but treponema is introduced into various tissues and organs (blood vessels, bone tissue, spinal cord and brain). Without adequate treatment, in most patients, this process lasts a lifetime or transforms into tertiary (late) syphilis. It leads to dangerous damage to the eyes, heart, brain. Its complications are mental disorders, blindness, paralysis and death.
Congenital syphilis manifests itself in a variety of pathologies: deformation of the teeth, anemia, kidney disease, etc.
Syphilis is diagnosed with blood tests and rapid tests.
For the treatment of primary and secondary syphilis, a single injection of penicillin is given. In the case of latent, tertiary and congenital syphilis, treatment takes longer and increases the dose of penicillin, but is usually successful. Some patients are allergic to penicillin. In this case, they are given tetracycline or erythromycin. The sexual partners of a patient with syphilis are urgently examined. Even if the syphilis test is negative, they are given preventive penicillin treatment.
The danger of syphilis lies in the fact that it can proceed latently or mimic the symptoms of various skin diseases. If syphilis occurs simultaneously with other sexually transmitted diseases (gonorrhea, chlamydia, trichomoniasis), it is first treated, and then concomitant infections.
In addition to penicillin, immunomodulators, enzymes, vitamins and physical therapy are used in the treatment of syphilis. It should be remembered that without proper treatment, syphilis is fatal.
Article author: Mochalov Pavel Alexandrovich | d. m. n. therapist
Education: Moscow Medical Institute. IM Sechenov, specialty - "General Medicine" in 1991, in 1993 "Occupational Diseases", in 1996 "Therapy".