Syphilis: signs

Syphilis is a chronic venereal disease, damaging skin, mucous membranes, bones, nervous system, internal organs. The causative agent of this disease is pale treponema, which is unstable in the external environment. When exposed to soap solutions, alcohols, and temperatures above 48 degrees, she instantly dies.

The main ways of infection with syphilis: sexual, hemotransfusion, intrauterine, rarely household.

There are four periods of the disease. Syphilis, the signs of which are diverse, has differences at each stage of the disease.

The incubation period is from the moment of infection to the appearance of the first clinical signs of the disease, the main one of which is the appearance of a solid chancre. Its duration is 30 days. It can increase with antibiotic therapy for any other infectious diseases. The patient in this period is not contagious to others.

The formation of sores with round, smooth edges at the site of penetration of pale treponema characterizes primary syphilis. Symptoms of the disease at this stage are limited to the appearance of only this formation, which is called a hard chancre. It is painless, so it often remains unnoticed. Syphilis is very contagious at this stage, since a large number of pathogens are present in the solid chancre.

After about five weeks, the sore disappears, and a scar appears in its place. These changes can not be taken for the end of the disease. Further, treponema enters the nearby lymph nodes (inguinal) and then spreads through the body with blood flow. The lymph nodes that have been affected by the pathogen increase in size, acquire a densely elastic consistency, but they are painless and mobile.

At the end of this period, the following common symptoms of syphilis are observed : headache, weakness, fever to subfebrile marks, pain in the muscles and joints.

Ten weeks after the onset of the disease, the characteristic signs of syphilis of the second period appear on the skin: a specific rash that is characterized by the polymorphism of the elements (nodules, pustules, spots). It does not show any symptoms (no pain, itching, burning). This rash usually disappears without treatment for several weeks.

Then begins the stage of secondary latent syphilis, which is characterized by the formation of rashes, baldness of small areas on the skin of the neck (crown of Venus). Elements of the rash are painless. During this period, there is a great danger of infection by household methods. Wave-like course (the periods of remission are replaced by the stages of exacerbation) characterizes secondary syphilis. Signs of the disease in this period become the most pronounced, the probability of infection increases to one hundred percent.

After about five years, the tertiary period of syphilis begins. It is characterized by the appearance of gumm (specific foci) in various organ systems (skin, liver, lungs, brain, eyes, heart, bones). When they decay, the corresponding organs are destroyed. Clinical symptoms are the formation of ulcers on the mucous membranes of the nose, palate, pharynx. For this period, the destruction of nerve cells of the spinal cord, as well as the brain, is characteristic. The result is progressive paralysis, dementia. Foci of defeat do not contain pathogens, so the patient is not contagious to others.

Syphilis and pregnancy - an extremely unfavorable combination, since there is a high probability of infection in the fetus. If the pregnant woman has signs of syphilis in the secondary period, the probability of infection is close to one hundred percent. In later forms, the probability of transmission of the pathogen is significantly reduced.

Syphilis in pregnant women threatens with fetal death and spontaneous abortion. If a child is born, then soon it will start to show signs of a disease, which in this case is called congenital. In order to prevent syphilis, the signs of which will be manifested from the first weeks of the child's life, it is necessary to diagnose the disease in a timely manner.