The facts
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the corkscrew-shaped bacteria (spirochete) Treponema pallidium. The bacteria infect your body during sex with an infected partner. Within 90 days of infection (three week average), a painless sore or ulcer called a chancre appears. For men, the chancre is usually found on or around the penis, anus or mouth. This first stage of syphilis is called primary syphilis. The chancre contains a clear fluid that is full of syphilis-causing bacteria, making you highly contagious. The chancre will heal even without treatment within a few weeks.
If left untreated, the disease will progress through its various cycles (what if I have syphilis). After the chancre heals, usually you will go through a short period of time, about a month, when you don’t have any symptoms, a latent period. After that time of latency, other symptoms appear. This is called secondary syphilis. Some people can have the chancre and secondary syphilis symptoms simultaneously or in rapid succession without a latency period. (what does syphilis look like). Secondary symptoms can include multiple sores on the penis, anus or around the mouth, a copper-colored rash on the trunk of the body, or larger spots on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet, hair loss, white patches on your tongue or multiple wart-like growths called condylomata lata. As it generally takes several months for a person to get secondary symptoms after they were exposed to syphilis, many people don’t associate these symptoms with sex. Some people think the rashes are an allergic reaction and blame the hair loss on new hair care products. All of these symptoms will go away on their own, without treatment, within a few weeks. However, you are still infectious during this stage. You need to have a test for syphilis and be treated if you are infected.
Any period of time during syphilis when you do not have symptoms is considered a latent stage. If you were infected with syphilis in the past year and do not have symptoms, you will be diagnosed with early latent syphilis. If you were infected with syphilis more than a year ago and do not have symptoms, you will be diagnosed with late latent syphilis.
If untreated, 1/3 of those infected with syphilis progress to tertiary syphilis, usually over 10-20 years. Although no longer contagious, the disease can prove lethal. Syphilis commonly attacks the brain and spinal cord (neurosyphilis), leading to blindness, paralysis, and even insanity. It can also affect the heart and major blood vessels in the chest (cardiovascular syphilis) leading to heart failure, aortic aneurysm, and death. If you are HIV+ or immune comprised, the progression to neurosyphilis can occur in a much shorter period of time.
Find Out More:
