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A Guide to Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Syphilis

May 18, 2007

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by Treponema pallidum. This infection can be passed from a mother to her child during pregnancy. It is very rare that syphilis can be spread by other ways. The main two ways are the ones I mentioned above and that is through sexual contact and mother to child. Syphilis is extremely small and can live almost anywhere.

Syphilis can occur in four different stages. These stages start with Primary Syphilis. In this first stage of Syphilis, the symptoms are red sometimes-wet sores that do not hurt. They will appear on the vagina, rectum, penis, or mouth. It could be one sore or it could be serveral. This sore is called chancre (shang-ker). Swollen glands are also a sign in the first stage of this disease.

It can be highly contagious during the first stage. In many cases the people that are infected do not know they have syphilis. If this disease is not treated it will get worse.

In the second stage of Syphilis a person breaks out in a rash. They can also have flu-like symptoms in this stage. These symptoms may include a person having a fever and acridness. Sores may appear on the lips, mouth, throat, vagina, and anus. Some people do not have sores in this stage.

The third and forth stages are Latent Syphilis and Tertiary Syphilis. In the 3rd stage of this disease, syphilis spreads all over the body. This means that it will affect the brain, heart, spinal cord, and bones in people. By the 4th stage a person could have difficulty walking, numbness, and gradual blindness.

The end result will be death.

Posted at 08:18 AM by Latasha in the STDs category/ies.