What is syphilis?

Syphilis is one of the most feared sexually transmitted diseases, seriously threatening the health and life of the patient. If not treated promptly, the patient may experience many dangerous complications.

Things to know about syphilis

So what causes syphilis? How is it transmitted and what are the signs of syphilis?

Learn about syphilis

Syphilis is a bacterial infection caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum. Syphilis bacteria enter the body directly through unprotected sex (vaginal, anal or oral), through scratches on the skin and mucous membranes when in contact with secretions from syphilis lesions.

Syphilis can also be transmitted from mother to child during the fetal period from the 4th month onwards, because this spirochete enters the fetal blood through the umbilical cord.

Due to the open structure of the genitals, women are more susceptible to sexually transmitted diseases than men, including syphilis. If syphilis in women is not treated promptly, it can cause damage to all parts of the body such as genital ulcers, skin rashes, musculoskeletal pain, and even affect internal organs.

Causes of syphilis

The causative agent is the syphilis spirochete (Treponema pallidum) discovered by Schaudinn and Hauffman in 1905. This spirochete is spring-shaped, consisting of 6-14 spirals. The resistance of this spirochete is very weak, it can only survive for a few hours outside the body. In ice water, it still retains its mobility for a long time, at a temperature of 45 degrees Celsius it will die after 30 minutes. Antiseptics and soaps can kill this spirochete in a few minutes.

Signs and symptoms of syphilis

Signs and symptoms of syphilis occur in 3 stages:

1. Stage 1: This is the incubation period, usually lasting about 3 weeks. After the incubation period, the disease will begin to show symptoms of chancre and lymph nodes. A syphilitic chancre is a shallow, round or oval abrasion, without raised edges, about 0.5 - 2cm in size, with clear and regular boundaries, a clean, red bottom like fresh meat, a hard base (hence the name hard chancre) and painless when squeezed. Syphilitic chancre is most commonly found in the genital mucosa. In women, it is often found in the labia majora, labia minora, and edges of the vulva. In men, it is often found in the glans, urethra, scrotum, penis, etc. In addition, syphilitic chancre can be found in the mouth, lips, tongue, etc. Lymph nodes will appear 5 - 6 days after the chancre appears, the lymph nodes in the groin area swell and form clusters, of which the largest lymph node is called the lord lymph node.
2. Stage 2: This is the stage 45 days after the syphilis chancre and can last up to 2 - 3 years. Skin and mucosal lesions appear but when healed, they usually do not leave scars. Syphilis spirochetes easily cause sepsis with symptoms of fever and swollen lymph nodes. This stage often has clinical manifestations such as: scattered red-pink patches on the body, syphilitic papules with many diverse forms (red-pink papules, infiltrated and may have scaly edges around, psoriatic syphilis papules, acne-like, necrotic papules.), hypertrophic papules often found in the anus and genitals, diffuse lymphadenitis and sparse forest hair loss.
3. Stage 3: Usually appears 5, 10, 15 years after the chancre with symptoms such as deep chancre, gumma in the skin, bones, internal organs, cardiovascular system and nerves. At this stage, the patient is less likely to infect his/her partner because the spirochetes have penetrated and localized in the internal organs, no longer in the skin and mucous membranes.

Note : Between stage 1 and stage 2, between stage 2 and stage 3, the disease may not have clinical symptoms. It is latent syphilis and is detected only by serological detection.

Syphilis can manifest in the mouth.

Complications of syphilis

Syphilis can cause some dangerous complications such as:

1. Syphilis spirochetes can damage all major organs in the body.
2. Syphilis has negative effects on the skin, mucous membranes, eyes and internal organs such as the liver, cardiovascular system and nerves.
3. The disease can cause dangerous complications such as aortitis, aortic aneurysm, paralysis, mental disorders, and hepatitis.
4. Congenital syphilis can cause fetal death or fetal malformations after birth.

What is malignant syphilis?

Malignant syphilis has a short incubation period, starting with systemic symptoms such as fever, chills, muscle aches, and joint pain. Skin manifestations progress from nodules and pustules to ulcers, oozing ulcers, and on the surface, a thick crust like a shell, brown or black in color.

Malignant syphilis is very rare . If not diagnosed and treated early, the disease can progress throughout the body, affecting the cardiovascular system, central nervous system, vision, hearing, musculoskeletal system, digestive system, kidney and urinary system, threatening life.

This disease often occurs in patients with HIV infection, a history of homosexual intercourse, with ulcerative or necrotic lesions, accompanied by systemic symptoms. The prognosis is good when treated early, correctly and with sufficient doses of antibiotics according to the regimen.

Syphilis is no longer strange to Vietnamese people and has an effective treatment regimen. People infected with syphilis may or may not have symptoms on the skin and the whole body. Of which, malignant syphilis is a rare serious form of secondary syphilis .

How is syphilis transmitted?

Syphilis spirochetes are often found in lesions (chancres, mucosal plaques, lymph nodes, etc.). Therefore, the disease is easily transmitted if having unsafe sex with an infected person. The disease is most contagious in stages 1 and 2 when skin and mucosal lesions contain many syphilis spirochetes.

The disease is mainly transmitted through unsafe sex. Spirochetes penetrate the skin - mucous membranes of the genitals that are more or less scratched during sex, causing local disease (chancre), entering the blood and spreading throughout the body. Factors that increase the risk of transmission are HIV/AIDS infection, diseases or injuries to the genitals, unprotected sexual behavior (oral - genital sex, homosexual sex.).

Syphilis can be transmitted through blood transfusion (blood transfusion or drug injection with unsterilized syringes) and indirectly through contaminated objects and utensils.

Syphilis prevention

1. Build a healthy lifestyle, be monogamous.
2. Practice safe sex, with protection (use condoms).
3. To prevent congenital syphilis, timely detection and treatment of the mother if she develops the disease during pregnancy is necessary. Systematic serological testing should be performed for all pregnant women.
4. When you discover you are sick, you need to go to a medical facility for examination and treatment immediately. Do not buy medicine to treat yourself.

If you have or do not have the above symptoms, you should still be screened for sexually transmitted diseases to detect them early for effective treatment and avoid complications.