Syphilis

Generality

Syphilis is an infectious sexually transmitted disease known and spread worldwide for over 500 years. The infection is caused by a bacterium, known as Treponema pallidum .

Penile ulcer (syphiloma) caused by syphilis. See More Photos Syphilis

History

Tradition has it that syphilis was introduced to the European continent by the sailors of Christopher Columbus on his return from the Americas. In Italy syphilis arrives and spreads some years later and exactly in 1494 when the armies of King Charles VIII invaded Naples and then climbed the entire country.

The infection spread so quickly that it soon spread to a large part of Europe.

Insights

Contagion Causes Treponema pallidum Stages of Syphilis Symptoms Syphilis Diagnosis VDRL and TPHA Prevention Treatment Medications for the treatment of syphilis Syphilis in Pregnancy Syphilis in the Woman Syphilis in the Man Video: Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment Video: History, Causes and Contagion

Contagion

The syphilis epidemic in 16th century Europe was made possible by the ability of Treponema pallidum to be transmitted during sexual intercourse and not only:

contagion occurs whenever the bacteria responsible for the disease enter the body through cutaneous or mucosal erosion (as typically occurs during sexual intercourse).

Syphilis can also be contracted by transfusion of infected blood, by transplacental route (transmission from mother to child), by accident (use of objects belonging to infected people such as syringes and razors or due to professional infection due to the manipulation of infected samples)

Epidemiology

According to the report of the World Health Organization (WHO) dated 1999, every year in the world twelve million new cases of syphilis appear. Infection occurs more frequently in the sexually active age group (15-40 years) and in developing countries.

Causes

The infection is caused by the agent Treponema pallidum, a spiral-shaped bacterium belonging to the treponemataceae family.

Discovered in 1905 by the biologist F. Schaudinn and by the syphilographer E. Hoffmann of Hamburg, he was first called "Spirocheta Pallida" and later "Treponema Pallido". The description of the entire genome sequence of this bacterium, for which specific vaccines do not yet exist, dates back to 2001.

The contagion, as we have seen, can occur in different ways but in the vast majority of cases the disease is transmitted during sexual intercourse with an infected person (the probability of transmission between partners is approximately 60%).

We talk about syphilis acquired when the infection is contracted after birth by direct contact with Treponema through mucous membranes or skin lesions.

One speaks instead of congenital syphilis when the disease is transmitted from the mother to the fetus during the transuterine life or at the time of birth.

After infection the treponems enter the body reaching the blood stream where they can potentially invade any organ or tissue.

Stadiums of Syphilis

The clinical history of syphilis is usually divided into 4 stages:

lue, or primary syphilis,
secondary lue,
latent lue (early and late)
tertiary lue.

PRIMARY Syphilis

After the infection the incubation period lasts on average three weeks. At the end of this first asymptomatic phase in which the bacterium actively replicates itself in the body, more or less around the forty-fifth day after the infection, the first clinical manifestations appear ( primary syphiloma ). It is essentially a small painless wound that appears in the area where the infection occurred during sexual intercourse (penis, vagina, mouth, mammary areola, anus or rectum).

The primary syphiloma begins as a hard, reddish-colored nodule with a diameter of about 1cm (see photo). Normally it is not itchy and it does not cause pain but it soon goes into ulceration. Thus a small wound is formed, with a smooth, copper-red background that regresses on average in 25-45 days (only in HIV positive patients can it persist longer).

SECONDARY OR DISSEMINATED syphilis

When recovering from the primary syphiloma which, as we have seen, occurs on average after six weeks, diffuse skin eruptions may appear, associated with fever and swollen lymph nodes. On the mucous membranes and above all on the skin of the trunk and the upper limbs appear syphiloderms erythematoses (small red spots that collectively take the name of roseola), not itchy that extend to the whole body surface and last for about two months. Sometimes hair follicles can also be involved with the appearance of alopecia and thinning of the eyebrows. The infection can eventually be associated with fever, meningitis, a sense of general malaise, lack of appetite and headache; it usually disappears spontaneously after a period ranging from a few days to eight weeks.

From the infection at the end of the secondary phase we speak of recent syphilis which can last from 60 days to one or two years. At the end of this phase the disease can heal spontaneously (about a third of cases), enter a latent phase or evolve towards a more serious or TERTIARY stage (about a third of cases).

Latent syphilis begins when, with the disappearance of primary and secondary manifestations, we enter an asymptomatic phase in which the disease can be diagnosed only through serum positivity to Treponema.

Syphilis Tertiary

The third and final phase, called late or tertiary symptomatic syphilis, is characterized by the appearance of cutaneous and / or visceral manifestations, mostly cardiovascular or nervous. These manifestations, usually circumscribed but rather harmful, can also affect the digestive, skeletal, ear and tongue causing, in the most serious cases, the death of the individual.