Syphilis is one of the oldest known infections. Although it has been a disease that has infected people for hundreds of years, still it continues to haunt us to this very day. Lack of knowledge and concern could very well be the reason for staying power of this venereal disease.
Syphilitic infection is of bacterial origin. Bacteria named Treponema Pallidum produce it. About this nasty infection, a few things. First, you should know that the most common transmission way is by sexual contact. Direct contact with the lesions produced by the infection during sexual contact is the main cause.
The infection can also be transferred through various means. Being exposed to an infected person’s saliva, vaginal secretions, or semen will surely infect a healthy person.
On the other hand, there are also non-sexual ways of transmitting the disease, such as biting, kissing or handling of contaminated instruments or things. However, sexual contact still remains to be the primary way of transferring the disease. Statistics show that the probability of contracting the disease after sexual contact with an infected partner is 30-50%. Even a single exposure to the bacteria will be an opportunity for it to start multiplying.
If we may say so, the debut of the disease is very “discreet”, and it has a slow but certain evolution. If left untreated, this awful disease can have dramatic endings of the evolution. Nowadays, the blood is tested before any blood transfusion of any kind. That means that the risk of infection through blood transfusion should be zero. However, it never hurts to be extra attentive, does it?
Another way of non-sexual transmission of this disease is through congenital transmission wherein the mother transmits the bacteria to her newborn baby.
The symptoms of this disease come in stages and appear in various ways depending on the length of time that has elapsed from the first exposure to the bacteria. There are various phases in its evolution and it progresses unfavourably along the years.
The growth period of the bacteria starts from the first day ox exposure to as long as 90 days. Generally, there will be no biological or medical manifestations of the disease within this period.
The secondary phase ushers in changes from the primary phase symptoms, and could last up to two years. The syphilis patient is most contagious during the secondary phase as all the fluids of the body, such as the blood, vaginal secretions, semen, saliva, etc. contain active treponema organisms.
To determine if the person is infected or not, a blood test has to be conducted and this could also aid in tracing the bacteria. Finally, a microscopic analysis of the fluid from the primary or secondary lesions can diagnose the disease accurately.
Syphilis can be cured as long as the treatment starts right after the exposure. Antibiotics are usually recommended but if the treatment starts when the disease has evolved, there may be permanent damage to the affected organs.