What Is Syphilis?
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that is caused by bacteria. The bacteria are known as Treponema Pallidum which is a subspecies of Pallidum. These are syphilis bacteria. Just like other sexually transmitted infections, the infection can be spread through sexual intercourse and contact. This is a syphilis infection.
If a woman is pregnant at the time of contracting syphilis then the infection can pass on from mother to foetus or baby onto the baby during childbirth. This can affect pregnant women. A recent study showed that the number of people being diagnosed with the infection was on the rise.
While common myths state that syphilis is a historical STI, last year there were almost 2811 cases of syphilis in London alone. When left untreated it can lead to a number of health complications which can seriously affect your life and can even prove fatal. These complications can cause serious health problems. At Broadgate GP sexual health clinic, we offer private and discrete treatments for sexual health infections.
What Are The Symptoms of Syphilis?
Syphilis symptoms are often rather mild and can, therefore, be difficult to recognise. This can be especially true in the early stages. Unfortunately, this means that many people who are infected do not know they carry the disease and as a consequence, they end up passing it onto others.
To make diagnosis even more difficult the symptoms of the infection can vary over time and can also disappear temporarily. With the infection seeing a rise in infection rates it’s more important than ever, to ensure you’re diagnosed and treated in a timely fashion.
There’s four stages of syphilis, what symptoms you have will depend on the stage of the disease that you’re at. The stages can overlap and sometimes symptoms don’t always develop in the same order, you could even be infected with this sexually transmitted disease and not have any signs of it for years. Even if you don’t have symptoms, you can still pass it on to your sexual partner, you can still pass syphilis, if you think you have it or that you have been exposed to it, it’s important to get treated as soon as possible. The stages of syphilis include primary, secondary, latent and tertiary. This includes primary and secondary syphilis.
The signs and symptoms of syphilis will depend on which stage the infection presents itself. There are four main stages which are known as primary, secondary, latent and tertiary.
Symptoms of Primary Syphilis
Primary syphilis is usually acquired when a person comes into direct sexual contact with another person or infected lesion. Symptoms can appear anywhere between 3 to 90 days after exposure with the initial time being 21 days. Some of the primary symptoms include:
- Small painless open sore or ulcer on the genitals, mouth, skin or rectum
- Enlarged lymph nodes in the area of the sores
These symptoms usually disappear after around 2 to 8 weeks. However, if the infection remains untreated, it can progress to a second stage, the symptoms of which are described below.
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Symptoms of Secondary Syphilis
Whilst the bacteria continue to grow in your body you’ll start to experience more symptoms and that’s when you’ll enter the second stage. Some of the secondary symptoms include:
- General ill feeling
- Skin rashes usually on the hands or soles of the feet
- Loss of appetite
- Sores in or around the mouth, vagina or penis
- Muscle aches
- Moist or watery patches in the genital or skin folds
- Fever
- Joint pain
- Changes to vision
- Hair loss
Latent Syphilis
Latent is when you have proof of serologic proof of infection without showing any symptoms of the infection. This is the latent stage. In the UK, we have a two-year cut off point for early and latent. Early latent syphilis symptoms may have a relapse of symptoms, whilst late latent will remain asymptomatic. If it goes undiagnosed and/or untreated, the infection can do damage to the brain and/or the nerves.
Symptoms of Tertiary Syphilis
Tertiary syphilis typically occurs 3 to 15 years after the initial infection, without treatment a third of people who become infected with syphilis will develop tertiary. If the infection has developed to the tertiary stage you will no longer be contagious. Tertiary symptoms can be:
- Damage to the heart causing aneurysms or problems with the valves
- Central nervous system disorders
- Tumours on the skin, bones or liver
This damage can be potentially life-threatening. So it’s important to seek diagnosis and treatment if you know you’ve been in contact with someone with syphilis or if you suspect you might have contracted it.
Syphilis Symptoms in Men
Syphilis symptoms in men are similar to those in women, the first stage involves symptoms appearing in 10 days to 3 months after you’ve been exposed to the infection. You may notice that the lymph nodes near your groin as also enlarged, they appear the spot where the bacteria entered your body which may be inside your rectum or vagina. The sore should heal on its own in about 3 to 6 weeks, but this doesn’t mean that the infection is gone.
In about 2 to 10 weeks after the first sore, you may start to develop the following, skin rash, sores in your mouth or anus, fever, swollen glands, weight loss, hair loss, headache, tiredness and fatigue and muscles. If you continue with these symptoms with no treatment syphilis can become severe.
The next stage of syphilis can lead to organ damage and death, this includes brain problems, stroke, infection and inflammation of membranes around the brain and spinal cord. This also includes numbness, deafness, visual problems or blindness, personality changes, dementia, heart valve disease, aneurysm and inflammation of blood vessels.
Symptoms of Syphilis in Women
Research has indicated that syphilis tends to be a lot more common among men, but syphilis diagnosis in women is also known for being prevalent. In the first stage of syphilis women may experience a number or sores, they tend to be painless and firm as well as having a vesicular feel. It’s also common that there’ll be several in one area and if not treated they can lead to second stage syphilis, the next noticeable symptom is swollen lymph glands. Skin rashes are another common symptom, have you noticed a rash anywhere on your body, it’s always a good idea to check with your doctor, in the secondary stage of untreated syphilis, rashes may occur on random parts of your body.
Syphilis symptoms in women can also lead to sores in the mouth, vagina or anus, this includes one to three centimeter sores that are raised, grey or white sores that appear in moist areas like your mouth, underarms or groin. This next stage of syphilis may also include patchy hair loss, patchy bald spots on your scalp, also known as alopecia, this isn’t one of the big symptoms and it’s not typical in what you’d normally see. You may also notice that you’ve lost a couple of points in second stage syphilis, as well as headaches, muscle aches, sore throats and fatigue.
Once all of these areas are untreated syphilis can reach the tertiary stage, the bacteria can also affect the brain and in rare cases can lead to meningitis or inflammation of the brain or spinal cord. Ocular syphilis is another tertiary effective of untreated syphilis which involves the bacteria affecting the optic nerve in the brain which can cause vision problems and permanent blindness.
Symptoms of Syphilis in Babies
You can pass this STD on to your unborn child or to your baby during childbirth, doctors will call this congenital syphilis and if it’s not treated there’s a high risk of stillbirth and infant death. The majority of babies born with syphilis have no symptoms, some may have a rash on the palms of their hands or the soles of their feet, eventually, they may develop complications of their organs including an enlarged liver, jaundice, discharge from the nose, swollen glands, bone abnormality and bran problems.
How Syphilis is Spread
Syphilis is spread through close contact with another person who has an infected sore. This is most likely to happen during vaginal, anal sex, or oral sex or by sharing adult toys with an infected person. This is how syphilis spread can occur. Everyone who is sexually active is at risk of contracting the infection. It’s also possible for the sexually transmitted infection to spread when using the same toilet, clothing, cutlery or bathroom as an infected person. A syphilis sore may not always be noticed. This is also why syphilis testing is important for disease control.
Syphilis Treatment
If you think you have syphilis then it’s important to get an STD test carried out to ensure you’re diagnosed. A blood test may be used for syphilis testing. Once diagnosed there are a number of treatments that can be can be used to treat the infection. Antibiotics are commonly used to treat the infection and the course of tablets will typically last between two to four weeks. The length of time you need to take tablets for will depend on how long you’ve had the infection. An injection of antibiotics can also be administered to the buttocks and most people will usually need one dose. If you’ve had syphilis for a long time then three injections can be given at weekly intervals.
How to Prevent Syphilis
Syphilis can’t always be prevented as the symptoms aren’t always noticeable. If you are sexually active with multiple or different partners then you can reduce the risk by:
- Use of male or female condoms
- Using a dental dam during oral sex
- Avoid sharing adult toys
There are also a number of other preventive methods that can be used to help prevent developing syphilis and its symptoms. If you’re a drug user who injects needles then be sure to never share a needle. If you think you might have already contracted the infection, then you can arrange a discrete and fully confidential appointment with Broadgate GP.
Private GP & Walk-In Centre London – Make An Appointment
Whether you’re a walk-in patient or you book an appointment with us, our team will provide a friendly service and we’ll ensure you receive some of the highest standard of private health services in the London area.
