The Symptoms of Syphilis

The Symptoms of Syphilis Dr. Travis Stork: Our next question comes from Sandra via e-mail, and she writes, “Dear Doctors, I have heard that syphilis is on the rise again. What is the treatment for syphilis and what are the symptoms? Sincerely, Sandra.” And it’s absolutely true Sandra, syphilis is on the rise. It was nearly eradicated in the U.S. back in 2000, but unfortunately for the seventh consecutive years, syphilis raise are on the rise according to CDC. Syphilis is confusing because it’s an STD that has four stages; primary, secondary, late and where it is hidden, and then tertiary. And, the primary symptom is typically a sore, it’s called a chancre usually down there where the bacteria enter the body and it’s painless. Usually, it appears within three weeks of exposure. You may not think much of it but then a secondary stage develops four to ten weeks later where you get a rash. A lot of times on your hands looking like this. It can be very contagious. You may have low grade fever, sore throat, some weight loss, even weakness as generic symptoms. But if you don’t think about it, you wouldn’t know that it’s syphilis. And then the next stage, it goes latent. Literally, the rash goes away. You don’t know that you have syphilis. Dr. Drew Ordon: Syphilis. Dr. Jim Sears: This is scary. Dr. Lisa Masterson: Right. Dr. Jim Sears: Then you think, “Hey, wait I’ve got better. I'm good. I'm cool.” Dr. Travis Stork: But unfortunately, then you get to what’s called the tertiary or late stage where it can cause heart problems, mental problems, blindness. And the big thing is the central nervous problems because they’re irreversible. Dr. Lisa Masterson: Right. Dr. Travis Stork: So, the wonderful thing Sandra is Penicillin is a great cure for treating syphilis. Especially in the early stages, Penicillin will treat syphilis but the problem is antibiotics can't reverse damage that’s caused by late stage syphilis. And so the message there is STDs are dangerous. You’ve got to use a condom. You’ve got to be careful. And certainly, if you have that symptoms of a painless sore in your groin particularly, if you’ve had unprotected sex, you need to talk with your doctor right and test it. Dr. Drew Ordon: That’s a good point.. Dr. Lisa Masterson: Screening. Dr. Drew Ordon: A lesion in your genital area that is unusual, you’ve never seen before that’s there for a while. Dr. Lisa Masterson: If you can, don’t wait for the lesion. If you’ve had unprotected intercourse, get screened. Dr. Travis Stork: Well, a lot -- you can't always -- the test won't always come back positive. If you had relationship with someone and a day later, you go see your doctor that test is going to come back positive, you’ve just got to be under work out. Dr. Lisa Masterson: You may have to wait a bit later.