What does syphilis look like?

Syphilis is an infection caused by a bacteriumpale treponema. As a rule, it is transmitted sexually. However, syphilis can also pass from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at the birth of a child. In this case, it will be a congenital form.

There are four stages of this disease: primary, secondary, latent and tertiary. How does syphilis look at every stage, physicians have known for a long time.

So, in the initial stage, a person, as a rule,has only one hard chancre: a painless, non-itching ulcer or wound. It is red in color, firm to the touch, sometimes wet. Wounds appear on the genitals, rectum or in the mouth. Shankra appear on the part of the body where the infection occurred. Some people may have swollen glands at this stage. The disease is very contagious during the first stage, the symptoms of syphilis in men and women are almost the same, although it is believed that in men it develops more often (about 60% of cases). But, unfortunately, this stage can easily be missed, because chancres are painless and can appear in places that are poorly viewed. This means that people may not know that they are infected, and pass the disease on to others without realizing it. After a few weeks the chancre disappears, but this is not a sign that the disease has gone. In fact, if the infection is not treated, the disease will continue to progress.

About a month later, other symptoms appear, in particular skin manifestations of syphilis. There comes a secondary stage. What does syphilis look like now?

- Around the mouth on the face appear ulcers. They are usually round and vary in size.

- A copper-red rash appears on the arms, legs and torso, large spots on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet.

- Warts, like growths, can be on the genitals and around the anus.

- Hair loss (alopecia) sometimes occurs at the end of the secondary period. It can be non-uniform (bald spots) or full.

All these symptoms will disappear without treatment for several weeks, but the infection remains.

The hidden stage passes asymptomatically, without special blood tests the disease can not be detected, but a person is still contagious.

What does syphilis look like in the tertiary stage? This is the most severe stage of the disease, which is characterized by many serious symptoms.

Pale treponema spread throughout the bodyand can affect the brain and spinal cord, eyes, heart and bones. Symptoms of late syphilis include difficulty walking, numbness, gradual blindness and, possibly, even death.

With congenital syphilis, two-thirds of babies are born without any symptoms. If the child is not treated, the symptoms will develop during the first years of his life.

The most common symptoms are hepatosplenomegaly (enlarged liver and spleen), rash, fever, neurosyphilis and pneumonia.

What does syphilis look like next? The disease becomes apparent: noticeable appearance pathologies appear, bone tissue lesions occur, etc.

Syphilis is usually diagnosed by a blood test. People who are diagnosed with this disease are treated with antibiotics.

Some people with syphilis also have a human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV.