Syphilis:-

Definition:-A bacterial infection usually spread by sexually contact that spread with painless sore.

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection  (STI) that spreads when you have vaginal, anal or oral sex with someone who has the infection. A bacteria causes it. Antibiotic medication treats syphilis. Untreated syphilis can lead to serious health problems, including blindness and damage to your brain, heart, eyes and nervous system.

Etiology:-The bacteria Treponema pallidumcauses syphilis. An infected person spreads the bacteria through vaginal, anal or oral sex. The bacteria can enter your body through your anus, vagina, penis, mouth or broken skin. The bacteria continues to spread throughout your body, which can eventually damage certain organs.

Can you get syphilis from kissing?

Yes. While it’s rare to get syphilis from kissing, you can get syphilis by having direct contact with a syphilis sore.

Transmission:-

• 
  
• Have unprotected sex, especially if you have several partners.
• Are a man who has sex with men (MSM).
• Have HIV.
• Have had sex with someone who’s tested positive for syphilis.
• Tested positive for another STI, such as chlamydia gonorrhoea or herpes.

Symptoms:- usually have symptoms according to stage:-

Stages of syphilis infection

The four stages of syphilis are: 

• primary
• Seconary
• latent
• tertiary

Syphilis is most infectious during the first two stages. 

When syphilis is in the hidden, or latent, stage, the disease remains active but often doesn’t cause symptoms. Tertiary syphilis is the most destructive to health.

Primary syphilis

The primary stage of syphilis occurs about 3-4 weeks after a person contracts the bacteria. It begins with a small, round sore called a chancre. A chancre is painless, but it’s highly infectious. People may not even notice when they have one. This sore may appear wherever the bacteria entered the body, such as on or inside the mouth, genitals, or rectum.

On average, the sore shows up around 3 weeks after infection, but it can take between 10-90 days to appear infection.TrustSoursore remains for 2 to 6 weeks. Sometimes the only symptom will be swollen lymph nodes. 

Syphilis is transmitted by direct contact with a sore. This usually occurs during sexual activity, including oral sex.

Secondary syphilis

Skin rashes and a sore throat may develop during the second stage of syphilis. The rash won’t itch and is usually found on the palms and soles, but it may occur anywhere on the body. Some people don’t notice the rash before it goes away.

Other symptoms of secondary syphilis may include:

• headaches
• Swallow lymph node
• Fatigue
• Fever
• weight loss
• Hair loss.
• Aching joints 

These symptoms will go away whether treatment is received. However, without treatment, a person still has syphilis.

Secondary syphilis is often mistake for other conditions, such as:

• Pityriyasis
• Lichen planus 
• Psoriasis

For this reason, syphilis has been known as the “great immitiator” Because the symptoms can be so nonspecific, people experiencing symptoms may ignore them, or sometimes clinicians don’t suspect the presence of the infection.

Latent syphilis

The third stage of syphilis is the latent, or hidden, stage. The primary and secondary symptoms disappear, and there won’t be any noticeable symptoms at this stage. However, the bacteria remain in the body. This stage could last for years before progressing to tertiary syphilis.

Tertiary syphilis

The last stage of infection is tertiary syphilis. About 14-40% people with syphilis enter this stage. Tertiary syphilis can occur years or decades after the initial infection. Tertiary syphilis can be life-threatening. Some other potential outcomes of tertiary syphilis include:

• Blindness.
• loss of hearing
• mental health conditions
• memory loss
• destruction of soft tissue and bone
• neurological disorders, such as meningitis or stroke.
• Heart disease 🦠.
• Neurosyphilis , which is an infection of the brain or spinal cord.

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