photo taken from pro.corbis.com
Part 1
Syphilis can be a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that is caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum or can be a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that is caused by a spirochaete bacterium. It is often called “the great imitator” because so many of the signs and symptoms are indistinguishable from those of other diseases. It also has adopted many alternate names such as including “lues”, “syph”, “the Pox” (or “great pox”, to distinguish it from smallpox), and the “French disease.”
It can be only be transmitted through sexual contact and can be passed from person to person through direct contact with syphilis sore that occur mainly on the external genitals, vagina, anus, or in the rectum. Sores however, also can occur on the lips and in the mouth. In rare cases, it is transmitted through direct contact infections congenital syphilis (transmission from mother to child in the uterus).
The signs and symptoms of syphilis are innumerable; before the advent of serological examination, diagnosis was more difficult and the disease was coined the “Great Imitator” since it was more often confused with other diseases.
Syphilis is largely as common as gonorrhea. In the United States alone, health officials indicated over 32,000 cases of syphilis in 2002, which includes 6,862 cases of primary and secondary (P&S) syphilis. In 2002, half of all P&S syphilis cases came from 16 counties and 1 city; and majority of the P&S syphilis cases occurred in people whoa are in between 20 to 39 years of age. Syphilis in women 20 to 24 years of age recorded the highest instances than in men 35 to 39 years of age. Tallied cases of congenital syphilis in newborns plummeted from 2001 to 2002, with 492 new cases reported in 2001 against the 412 cases in 2002.
In between 2001 and 2002, the number of legitimately reported P & S syphilis cases rose to 12.4 percent. Rates in women however, eventually declined, and overall, the rate in men was already 3.5 times that in women. Note that these, in conjunction with reports of syphilis occurrences in men who have sex with men (MSM), suggest that rates of syphilis in MSM are rising.
People infected with syphilis do not have any symptoms for time, but remain at risk for later complications if they are not treated accordingly. Many of these sores are unrecognized, although transmission appears to take place from persons with sores who are in their primary or secondary stage. Hence, most transmission is from persons who are unconscious of their said infection.
Tags: about stds, Prevention, sexually transmitted diseases - syphillis manifestations, std facts, Syphilis
