Syphilis: symptoms, photos, treatment, first signs
"Gallic", "German", "French" disease or "jacket" - that's what syphilis was called in the past.
There is a hypothesis that a venereal disease that affects the skin, mucous membranes, internal organs and bones could come to Europe from the New World on the ships of Columbus.
According to another hypothesis, syphilis spread throughout the world from Africa through trade links and the slave trade. Some scientists hold the opinion that syphilis was known in ancient times, which is confirmed by the study of the bones of the inhabitants of ancient cities.
It is impossible to say exactly which hypothesis is true. In addition, there is evidence that people have suffered from different strains of the pathogen, the origins of which lie both in the New World and in Africa.
The causative agent of syphilis is pale treponema, found in 1905 as a result of long and painstaking research. It has an interesting feature that can be considered a serious drawback: pale treponema survives only at a temperature of 37 degrees Celsius.
Other temperatures, if not destroyed, are severely delayed in growth and development, which the doctors took note and began to use as one of the methods of treatment.
In addition, pale treponema, despite decades of treatment with its penicillin-based drugs, has preserved striking sensitivity to this antibiotic and its derivatives, which can not but rejoice.
Given that pale treponema quickly dies outside the body, infection occurs most often through the blood and sexually. That is why syphilis is referred to sexually transmitted diseases( STDs).
A household way of getting infected with syphilis is possible, but cases are extremely rare. For this, very close contact is necessary with the patient, who has open ulcers on the skin or mucous membranes. But usually at this stage a person is already receiving treatment and is in the hospital, which reduces the risk of infection with syphilis by the household way to a minimum.
In addition to all of the above, there are cases of syphilis infection of the child from the mother during breastfeeding or as a result of childbirth.
Once the infection has entered the human body, the incubation period of syphilis begins, which lasts from several days to 6 weeks, but on average - three weeks.
During this period there is a gradual growth of cells of pale treponema, which, however, is not accompanied by the appearance of any symptoms. This period is dangerous because a person, not knowing about his illness, becomes a carrier and spreader of the disease.
After a certain time on the site of infection, a solid chancre appears in the human body, which marks the onset of primary syphilis. This period lasts approximately 6 weeks and is divided into seronegative and seropositive stages. During the seronegative period, tests for syphilis produce a negative result, despite the presence of the disease and some characteristic symptoms. Only 3-4 weeks after the onset of primary syphilis, the seropositive stage begins, which is marked by positive test results and, accordingly, the diagnosis.
Secondary syphilis begins. Infection spreads throughout the body, affecting internal organs, bones, and also the nervous system. When the rash passes, the disease passes into a latent period, in which relapses are possible depending on the activity of human immunity.
But the defensive powers of man are not infinite. If you do not treat syphilis, then the person's immunity goes down, the disease develops and tertiary syphilis is formed. If you do not start treatment in this period, the disease affects all internal organs, and on the skin are formed gums - soft tumors, which often leads to ugliness.
The degree of syphilis damage depends on the strength of human immunity, and in rare cases, complete "healing" is observed. In the twentieth century, it was believed that this was entirely possible, but modern medicine proved otherwise. If the immunity of a person is high enough, the pathogens of the disease become so small in the body that no standard test detects them. But this does not mean healing in any way.
The incubation period of syphilis in men and women is not marked by any specific symptoms. In rare cases, a person may be tormented by mild weakness and malaise, but these signs are most often attributed to fatigue after a day's work or a cold.
We can say with certainty that the disease begins with the appearance on the body of a solid chancre - an ulcer resulting from an immune response to the introduction of pale treponema into the body - these are the first characteristic symptoms of syphilis .
Thus, primary syphilis manifests itself. Sometimes the chancre can have an atypical appearance, which is explained by infection in it. In rare cases in the genital area, since the disease is in most cases sexually transmitted, there is a painless swelling with a change in the color of the tissues.
After a while at the site of the appearance of a solid chancre, lymph nodes increase. To the touch they are painless and dense. A person in this period may feel weak and suffer from fever - this is the second most important symptom of syphilis.
Secondary syphilis is characterized by rashes or small hemorrhage on the skin and mucous membranes, passing into condylomas, which are extremely contagious. At this stage, the person has enlarged but painless lymph nodes, an increase in body temperature, a palpable weakness, a runny nose, cough, conjunctivitis.
Tertiary syphilis is not marked by characteristic symptoms, it can last for years, hitting all internal organs of a person during this time. The aorta, the major vessels, the spinal cord and the brain suffer the most.
As the disease turns into a chronic form and manifests itself with a decrease in immunity, with each new manifestation of the disease in the organs and tissues soft tumors are formed - gums that eventually turn into scars.
Since the disease manifests itself in every person individually and in a number of cases it is extremely difficult to clinically diagnose syphilis, then the methods of serodiagnostics are used. Treponemal enzyme immunoassay( ELISA) is the main diagnostic method for the detection of antibodies to the causative agent of syphilis.
Earlier in Russia, Wasserman's reaction( RW) was applied. Unfortunately, no test for syphilis gives 100% of the result due to the complexity of conducting tests in the laboratory, so a combination of the two diagnostic methods is used. So, in conjunction with ELISA, a cardiolipin test is used. If the tests are positive, then you can say that the person is sick.
In addition, if only ELISA is positive, then it can be argued that a person once had had syphilis.
In the past, syphilis was treated mainly with mercury ointments. Treatment was dangerous and ineffective, as in a number of cases the patient needed to increase the standard doses of such a drug, which always led to poisoning with mercury. It is estimated that about 80% of patients died from an overdose.
Only at the beginning of the 19th century did iodine-based medicines appear that were more effective and less toxic, but the risk of poisoning was still quite high.
It has also been suggested that if the chancre is excised, the disease can not develop and, in conjunction with the use of drugs based on mercury or iodine, the disease can be cured. But the practice did not confirm the conjecture.
At the beginning of the 20th century, "606" appeared. With its toxicity, it was not inferior to mercury preparations, but it was more effective in fighting syphilis. A little later they started using arsenic-based drugs, which also had a disastrous effect on both the disease and the person.
Due to the fact that pale treponema is very sensitive to high temperatures, in the treatment began to use drugs that increased the body temperature of the patient. This gave a good result, allowing to suspend the course of the disease.
Currently, syphilis in women and men is well treated with penicillin drugs, which have high efficacy and low toxicity. In rare cases, when treatment with penicillin does not lead to the proper result, it is possible to use obsolete methods of treatment, for example, the use of drugs with arsenic.
Also artificial increase of temperature of the patient's body is justified. But most often the use of such methods is not required, since pale treponema has not developed protection against penicillin, which explains the high effectiveness of antibiotics of the penicillin series.
It should be noted that after diagnosing syphilis it is necessary to notify all sexual partners in the last 3-4 months and call them to undergo treatment
Since syphilis is in most cases sexually transmitted, prevention should be reduced to the following simple rules:
Only permanent, strong relationships, where partners care about their own health, will accurately avoid syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases.
There is a hypothesis that a venereal disease that affects the skin, mucous membranes, internal organs and bones could come to Europe from the New World on the ships of Columbus.
According to another hypothesis, syphilis spread throughout the world from Africa through trade links and the slave trade. Some scientists hold the opinion that syphilis was known in ancient times, which is confirmed by the study of the bones of the inhabitants of ancient cities.
It is impossible to say exactly which hypothesis is true. In addition, there is evidence that people have suffered from different strains of the pathogen, the origins of which lie both in the New World and in Africa.
The causative agent of syphilis
The causative agent of syphilis is pale treponema, found in 1905 as a result of long and painstaking research. It has an interesting feature that can be considered a serious drawback: pale treponema survives only at a temperature of 37 degrees Celsius.
Other temperatures, if not destroyed, are severely delayed in growth and development, which the doctors took note and began to use as one of the methods of treatment.
In addition, pale treponema, despite decades of treatment with its penicillin-based drugs, has preserved striking sensitivity to this antibiotic and its derivatives, which can not but rejoice.
How can I get syphilis?
Given that pale treponema quickly dies outside the body, infection occurs most often through the blood and sexually. That is why syphilis is referred to sexually transmitted diseases( STDs).
A household way of getting infected with syphilis is possible, but cases are extremely rare. For this, very close contact is necessary with the patient, who has open ulcers on the skin or mucous membranes. But usually at this stage a person is already receiving treatment and is in the hospital, which reduces the risk of infection with syphilis by the household way to a minimum.
In addition to all of the above, there are cases of syphilis infection of the child from the mother during breastfeeding or as a result of childbirth.
Types and course of syphilis
Once the infection has entered the human body, the incubation period of syphilis begins, which lasts from several days to 6 weeks, but on average - three weeks.
During this period there is a gradual growth of cells of pale treponema, which, however, is not accompanied by the appearance of any symptoms. This period is dangerous because a person, not knowing about his illness, becomes a carrier and spreader of the disease.
After a certain time on the site of infection, a solid chancre appears in the human body, which marks the onset of primary syphilis. This period lasts approximately 6 weeks and is divided into seronegative and seropositive stages. During the seronegative period, tests for syphilis produce a negative result, despite the presence of the disease and some characteristic symptoms. Only 3-4 weeks after the onset of primary syphilis, the seropositive stage begins, which is marked by positive test results and, accordingly, the diagnosis.
Approximately 7 weeks after the onset of primary syphilis, human immunity begins active work, which is expressed in specific rashes on the skin and mucous membranes( see photo).
Secondary syphilis begins. Infection spreads throughout the body, affecting internal organs, bones, and also the nervous system. When the rash passes, the disease passes into a latent period, in which relapses are possible depending on the activity of human immunity.
But the defensive powers of man are not infinite. If you do not treat syphilis, then the person's immunity goes down, the disease develops and tertiary syphilis is formed. If you do not start treatment in this period, the disease affects all internal organs, and on the skin are formed gums - soft tumors, which often leads to ugliness.
The degree of syphilis damage depends on the strength of human immunity, and in rare cases, complete "healing" is observed. In the twentieth century, it was believed that this was entirely possible, but modern medicine proved otherwise. If the immunity of a person is high enough, the pathogens of the disease become so small in the body that no standard test detects them. But this does not mean healing in any way.
Symptoms of syphilis in women and men
The incubation period of syphilis in men and women is not marked by any specific symptoms. In rare cases, a person may be tormented by mild weakness and malaise, but these signs are most often attributed to fatigue after a day's work or a cold.
We can say with certainty that the disease begins with the appearance on the body of a solid chancre - an ulcer resulting from an immune response to the introduction of pale treponema into the body - these are the first characteristic symptoms of syphilis .
Thus, primary syphilis manifests itself. Sometimes the chancre can have an atypical appearance, which is explained by infection in it. In rare cases in the genital area, since the disease is in most cases sexually transmitted, there is a painless swelling with a change in the color of the tissues.
After a while at the site of the appearance of a solid chancre, lymph nodes increase. To the touch they are painless and dense. A person in this period may feel weak and suffer from fever - this is the second most important symptom of syphilis.
Secondary syphilis is characterized by rashes or small hemorrhage on the skin and mucous membranes, passing into condylomas, which are extremely contagious. At this stage, the person has enlarged but painless lymph nodes, an increase in body temperature, a palpable weakness, a runny nose, cough, conjunctivitis.
In some cases, the rash does not form, the disease looks like a common cold, so it is difficult to diagnose syphilis. Sometimes the disease is completely asymptomatic, which allows it to go unnoticed into a chronic form.
Tertiary syphilis is not marked by characteristic symptoms, it can last for years, hitting all internal organs of a person during this time. The aorta, the major vessels, the spinal cord and the brain suffer the most.
As the disease turns into a chronic form and manifests itself with a decrease in immunity, with each new manifestation of the disease in the organs and tissues soft tumors are formed - gums that eventually turn into scars.
Diagnosis of syphilis
Since the disease manifests itself in every person individually and in a number of cases it is extremely difficult to clinically diagnose syphilis, then the methods of serodiagnostics are used. Treponemal enzyme immunoassay( ELISA) is the main diagnostic method for the detection of antibodies to the causative agent of syphilis.
Earlier in Russia, Wasserman's reaction( RW) was applied. Unfortunately, no test for syphilis gives 100% of the result due to the complexity of conducting tests in the laboratory, so a combination of the two diagnostic methods is used. So, in conjunction with ELISA, a cardiolipin test is used. If the tests are positive, then you can say that the person is sick.
In addition, if only ELISA is positive, then it can be argued that a person once had had syphilis.
Treatment of syphilis
In the past, syphilis was treated mainly with mercury ointments. Treatment was dangerous and ineffective, as in a number of cases the patient needed to increase the standard doses of such a drug, which always led to poisoning with mercury. It is estimated that about 80% of patients died from an overdose.
Only at the beginning of the 19th century did iodine-based medicines appear that were more effective and less toxic, but the risk of poisoning was still quite high.
It has also been suggested that if the chancre is excised, the disease can not develop and, in conjunction with the use of drugs based on mercury or iodine, the disease can be cured. But the practice did not confirm the conjecture.
At the beginning of the 20th century, "606" appeared. With its toxicity, it was not inferior to mercury preparations, but it was more effective in fighting syphilis. A little later they started using arsenic-based drugs, which also had a disastrous effect on both the disease and the person.
Due to the fact that pale treponema is very sensitive to high temperatures, in the treatment began to use drugs that increased the body temperature of the patient. This gave a good result, allowing to suspend the course of the disease.
Currently, syphilis in women and men is well treated with penicillin drugs, which have high efficacy and low toxicity. In rare cases, when treatment with penicillin does not lead to the proper result, it is possible to use obsolete methods of treatment, for example, the use of drugs with arsenic.
Also artificial increase of temperature of the patient's body is justified. But most often the use of such methods is not required, since pale treponema has not developed protection against penicillin, which explains the high effectiveness of antibiotics of the penicillin series.
It should be noted that after diagnosing syphilis it is necessary to notify all sexual partners in the last 3-4 months and call them to undergo treatment
Prevention of syphilis
Since syphilis is in most cases sexually transmitted, prevention should be reduced to the following simple rules:
- does not practice casual connections with unfamiliar people;
- you should always use a condom;
- when switching to oral contraceptives should ask a regular partner to pass tests for sexually transmitted diseases;
- regularly, at least once a year, take tests for sexual infections;
- , women should not miss annual trips to the gynecologist;
- , when characteristic symptoms of syphilis appear, for example, the formation of a solid chancre, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Only permanent, strong relationships, where partners care about their own health, will accurately avoid syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases.