It may be possible to catch syphilis if you inject yourself with drugs and you share needles with somebody who's infected, or through blood transfusions , but this is very rare in the UK as all blood donations are tested for syphilis. Syphilis cannot be spread by using the same toilet, clothing, cutlery or bathroom as an infected person. Find out more about syphilis in pregnancy.
Syphilis cannot always be prevented, but if you're sexually active you can reduce your risk by practising safer sex:. These measures can also reduce your risk of catching other sexually transmitted infections STIs. If you inject yourself with drugs, do not use other people's needles or share your needles with others. If a woman becomes infected while she's pregnant, or becomes pregnant when she already has syphilis, it can be very dangerous for her baby if not treated.
A person is highly contagious during the secondary stage. A rash often develops over the body and commonly includes the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. The skin rash usually heals within 2 months on its own without scarring.
After healing, skin discoloration may occur. But even though the skin rash has healed, syphilis is still present and a person can still pass the infection to others.
When syphilis has spread throughout the body, the person may have:. If untreated, an infected person will progress to the latent hidden stage of syphilis. The latent stage is defined as the year after a person becomes infected. After the secondary-stage rash goes away, the person will not have any symptoms for a time latent period.
The latent period may be as brief as 1 year or range from 5 to 20 years. Often during this stage, an accurate diagnosis can only be made through blood testing, the person's history, or the birth of a child with congenital syphilis. A person is contagious during the early part of the latent stage and may be contagious during the latent period when no symptoms are present. Some people with syphilis have a relapse of the infection during its latent stage. A relapse means the person was symptom-free but then started having symptoms again.
Relapses can occur several times. When relapses no longer occur, a person is not contagious through contact. But a woman in the latent stage of syphilis may still pass the infection to her developing baby and may have a miscarriage or a stillbirth or give birth to a baby infected with congenital syphilis. This is the most destructive stage of syphilis.
If untreated, the tertiary stage may begin as early as 1 year after infection or at any time during a person's lifetime. A person with syphilis may never experience this stage of the illness.
During this stage, syphilis may cause serious blood vessel and heart problems, mental disorders, blindness, nerve system problems, and even death. The symptoms of tertiary late syphilis depend on the complications that develop. Complications of this stage include:.
Congenital syphilis refers to syphilis passed from a mother to her baby during pregnancy or during labor and delivery. The U. Preventive Services Task Force strongly recommend that all pregnant women be screened for syphilis because of the severe consequences of being pregnant while infected or having a child born with congenital syphilis.
Screening should be done: footnote 2 , footnote 1. Congenital syphilis increases the risk of fetal death and medical complications in newborns. Syphilis enters the fetal blood system through the placenta , causing infection in the newborn or death of the fetus. Symptoms of congenital syphilis include:. Because there are other conditions with similar symptoms, an accurate diagnosis is important for treatment. About 3 weeks—although the range is from 10 to 90 days—after a person is infected with syphilis, a sore chancre that is usually painless often appears on the genitals.
This first stage in the course of syphilis is referred to as the primary stage. The chancre usually heals without treatment in 3 to 6 weeks. If syphilis is not treated during the primary stage, it often progresses to later stages.
In the secondary stage of syphilis, a skin rash will usually develop about 2 to 12 weeks after the chancre appears. The symptoms usually disappear without treatment within 2 months. After the rash clears, a person may have a period with no symptoms.
This symptom-free period is called the latent hidden stage. Even though symptoms disappear, the bacteria that cause syphilis remain in the body and begin to damage the internal organs.
A person is contagious during the primary and secondary stages and may still be contagious during the early part of the latent stage. During this time, symptoms of the second stage of syphilis may reappear. This is called a relapse and can occur several times. If not detected and treated, syphilis may then progress to the tertiary late stage , the most destructive stage of syphilis. It may begin as early as 1 year after infection or at any time during the infected person's life.
About one-third of untreated people who are infected with syphilis will have the complications of tertiary late syphilis. Any organ system such as the central nervous system may become involved. Complications of tertiary late syphilis include:. Congenital syphilis refers to syphilis passed from the mother to the baby during pregnancy or during labor and delivery.
Congenital syphilis can cause complications in newborns and children. Syphilis is contagious whenever an open sore or skin rash is present. Infection with syphilis also increases a person's risk of being infected with HIV. Syphilis causes open sores on the genitals that allow the HIV infection to enter the body easily. Syphilis is in general more common in people who are also infected with HIV.
Do not have sexual intercourse or other sexual contact until you have been treated by a doctor. If you are diagnosed with syphilis, your sex partner s will need to be treated also.
In most areas, public health clinics or health departments are able to diagnose and provide low-cost assessment and treatment of early syphilis and other STIs. Watchful waiting is a wait-and-see approach. It's not a good choice if you think you were exposed to or have syphilis or another STI. Any symptoms or other changes that suggest syphilis or another STI should be checked by a doctor. Diagnosis of syphilis includes a medical history and a physical exam.
Your doctor may ask you questions such as:. The diagnosis of syphilis is usually confirmed with one of several blood tests. This is especially true if no sores are present. If sores are present, a doctor may look at the fluid from one of the sores with a microscope to see whether syphilis bacteria are present dark-field examination. In the diagnosis of the primary and secondary stages of syphilis, lumbar puncture spinal tap is needed in some cases.
Additional testing should be done to find out if other sexually transmitted infections are present, especially:. The diagnosis of syphilis can be delayed or complicated because its symptoms are very similar to those of many other diseases and are sometimes not recognized. Syphilis has historically been called "the great imitator. Screening for syphilis is strongly recommended for pregnant women and for people who are at increased risk for the infection.
People at high risk of contracting syphilis include those who:. Preventive Services Task Force strongly recommend that pregnant women be screened for syphilis because of the severe consequences of being pregnant while infected or having a child born with congenital syphilis.
Screening should be done: footnote 6 , footnote 4. Prompt treatment of syphilis is needed to cure the infection, prevent complications, and prevent the spread of the infection to others.
Penicillin is the preferred drug for treating syphilis. Penicillin is the standard therapy for the treatment of neurosyphilis, congenital syphilis , or syphilis acquired or detected during pregnancy. If you are allergic to penicillin, make sure you tell your doctor. Your doctor will still be able to treat the syphilis but may consult with a specialist on the best antibiotic choice. Syphilis spreads from person to person via skin or mucous membrane contact with these sores.
After the initial infection, the syphilis bacteria can remain inactive in the body for decades before becoming active again. Early syphilis can be cured, sometimes with a single shot injection of penicillin. Without treatment, syphilis can severely damage the heart, brain or other organs, and can be life-threatening.
Syphilis can also be passed from mothers to unborn children. Primary syphilis causes painless sores chancres on the genitals, rectum, tongue or lips.
The disease can be present with the appearance of a single chancre shown here on a penis or many. Syphilis develops in stages, and symptoms vary with each stage. But the stages may overlap, and symptoms don't always occur in the same order.
You may be infected with syphilis without noticing any symptoms for years. The sore appears at the spot where the bacteria entered your body. While most people infected with syphilis develop only one chancre, some people develop several of them. The chancre usually develops about three weeks after exposure. Many people who have syphilis don't notice the chancre because it's usually painless, and it may be hidden within the vagina or rectum.
The chancre will heal on its own within three to six weeks. Within a few weeks of the original chancre healing, you may experience a rash that begins on your trunk but eventually covers your entire body — even the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet. This rash is usually not itchy and may be accompanied by wartlike sores in your mouth or genital area. Some people also experience hair loss, muscle aches, a fever, a sore throat and swollen lymph nodes. These signs and symptoms may disappear within a few weeks or repeatedly come and go for as long as a year.
If you aren't treated for syphilis, the disease moves from the secondary stage to the hidden latent stage, when you have no symptoms. The latent stage can last for years. Signs and symptoms may never return, or the disease may progress to the third tertiary stage.
In the late stage, the disease may damage the brain, nerves, eyes, heart, blood vessels, liver, bones and joints. These problems may occur many years after the original, untreated infection.
At any stage, syphilis can spread and, among other damage, cause damage to the brain and nervous system and the eye. There are different signs and symptoms associated with each stage. You can get syphilis by direct contact with a syphilis sore during vaginal, anal, or oral sex.
You can find sores on or around the penis, vagina, or anus, or in the rectum, on the lips, or in the mouth. Syphilis can spread from an infected mother to her unborn baby. Syphilis is divided into stages primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary , with different signs and symptoms associated with each stage.
A person with primary syphilis generally has a sore or sores at the original site of infection. These sores usually occur on or around the genitals, around the anus or in the rectum, or in or around the mouth. These sores are usually but not always firm, round, and painless. Symptoms of secondary syphilis include skin rash, swollen lymph nodes, and fever.
The signs and symptoms of primary and secondary syphilis can be mild, and they might not be noticed. During the latent stage , there are no signs or symptoms. Tertiary syphilis is associated with severe medical problems.
A doctor can usually diagnose tertiary syphilis with the help of multiple tests. It can affect the heart, brain, and other organs of the body. If you are sexually active, you can do the following things to lower your chances of getting syphilis:.
Any sexually active person can get syphilis through unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Have an honest and open talk with your health care provider and ask whether you should be tested for syphilis or other STDs. If you are pregnant and have syphilis, you can give the infection to your unborn baby.
Having syphilis can lead to a low birth weight baby. It can also make it more likely you will deliver your baby too early or stillborn a baby born dead.
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