Syphilis

1. Syphilis By: Rose, Prabjot, Amrit, & Aman

2. WHAT CAUSES SYHPHILIS? • Spread primarily by oral and anal sex • Can be passed to another person through prolonged kissing or close bodily contact • It can be passed on from a pregnant women to its baby • Spread from sores, but usually the vast majority of sores go unrecognized • Syphilis cannot be spread by toilet seats, door knobs, swimming pools, hot tubs, bath tubs, shared clothing, or eating utensils • Transmitted from person to person by direct contact with a syphilitic sore, known as a chancre. • Syphilis is primarily a sexually transmitted infection (STI) but caused by Treponemapallidum bacteria. • Syphilis is a "skin-to-skin" disease.

3. How common is syphilis? • Estimated that, annually, 55,400 people in the United States get new syphilis infections. • In 2011, rates of syphilis were highest among men 20-29. • Black, Hispanic, and other racial/ethnic minorities are disproportionally affected by syphilis. • During 2011, 360 cases of syphilis being passed down to a baby occurred during birth. • During 2004–2008, rates of syphilis increased the most among 15–24 year-old men and women.

4. Reported Rates of Infectious Syphilis by Sex and Age Group, 2008, Canada

5. SYMPTOMS • The average time between infection with syphilis start of the first symptom is 21 days, but can range from 10 to 90 days. • Symptoms have 3 stages, primary, secondary, and latent and late stages. • Primary Stage: Multiple sores that usually appear at he location where syphilis entered the body. Lasts 3 to 6 weeks and heals regardless of whether a person is treated or not, if not treated the infection progresses to the second stage. • Secondary Stage: Skin rashes and/or mucous membrane lesions (sores in the mouth, vagina, or anus). Typically starts with the development of a rash on one or more areas of the body. The rash may appear as rough, red, or reddish brown spots both on the palms of the hands and the bottoms of the feet. Sometimes there so faint they are not noticed. Also, they are not itchy. In addition to these rashes, symptoms include fever, swollen lymph glands, sore throat, patchy hair loss, headaches, weight lost, muscle aches, and fatigue. Will go away with or without treatment, but without treatment, the infection will progress to the latent stage. • Latent and Late Stages: Early latent syphilis is latent syphilis where infection occurs within 12 months. Latent syphilis can last for years! Can develop in about 15% of people who have not been treated for syphilis, and can appear 10-20 years after infection. May damage the internal organs, nerves, eyes, heart, blood vessels, liver, bones, and joints. Also, difficulty coordinating muscle movements, paralysis, numbness, gradual blindness, and dementia. Can be serious enough to cause death.

6. How to prevent syphilis? • Avoid intimate contact with a person you know is infected. • If you do not know if a sexual partner is infected, use a condom in every sexual encounter. • Use a latex condom and if you are allergic to latex condoms use a synthetic non-latex condom. • The use of microbicide or male circumcision do not prevent syphilis. • Avoiding alcohol and drug use may also help prevent transmission of syphilis because these activities may lead to risky sexual behaviour.

7. How is syphilis treated? • No home remedies or over-the-counter drugs that will cure syphilis. • Easy to cure in it’s early stages. • A single intramuscular (directly to the muscle) injection of long acting Benzathine penicillin G will cure any of the stages. • You will need three doses of this infection if you have latent syphilis. • This treatment will kill the syphilis bacterium and prevent further damage, but it will not repair the damage that has already been done.

8. What if syphilis is not treated? • Can be serious enough to cause death. • Can be treated in the early stages but very hard in the late stages then may lead to death. • If syphilis is left untreated, it can cause serious and permanent problems such as dementia, blindness, or death.

9. WILL SYPHILIS RECUR? • Syphilis does not recur. • But having syphilis once does not prevent you from getting infected again. • There are chances of getting re-infected by syphilis again, even after you’ve been treated.

10. How Does Syphilis Affect a Pregnant Woman and Her Baby? • Pregnant women with the disease can transmit it to their unborn child. • A pregnant woman who has been infected with syphilis has a good chance of having stillbirth (birth of an infant who has died prior to delivery, it just depends on how long she’s been infected for. Also, in some cases the baby can die shortly after birth. • If not treated immediately, an infected baby may be born without symptoms but could develop them within a few weeks. • Untreated babies may become developmentally delayed, have seizures, or die.

11. What’s the outlook • Syphilis is a curable disease with prompt diagnosis and treatment. However, if treated too late, there may be permanent damage to the heart and brain even after the infection is destroyed.

12. Resources • http://www.webmd.com/sexual-conditions/guide/syphilis • http://www.cdc.gov/std/syphilis/STDFact-Syphilis-detailed.htm • http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/std-mts/report/sti-its2008/05-eng.php