Syphilis is one of the most common venereal diseases found worldwide. And it is strongly stigmatized and shameful one.
While it must have been prevalent in other parts of the world earlier, it showed up in Europe in the 15th century. Its painful symptoms led people to call it ‘the great pox’.
Since it was a completely new disease for the people of those times, the treatments available were scanty and ineffective. Some medics tried mercury ointments on patients which caused them excruciating pain and even death.
Some medics gave their patients sweat baths, mistakenly believing it would rid their bodies of syphilitic poisons.
Blame Game
In the later times, the widespread nature of the disease led to a tendency of people of one area blaming another area for its prevalence. The Italians started calling Syphilis the ‘French Disease’ while the French people referred to it as the ‘Neapolitan Disease’.
In Russia, it was known as the ‘Polish Disease’ while the Poles called it the ‘German Disease’. The Muslims blamed the Hindus for it while the Turks called it the ‘Christian Disease’.
Spreading Like Fire
Very soon, syphilis swept through Europe, right to France and Germany to Scotland and England, and by the 1500s, it reached Hungary, Poland, Greece and Russia in its vicious grip.
As European explorers went sailing around the globe during the 1400 and 1500s, they took the disease with them to India, Japan, China, Africa and the Far East.
However, it was only in 1905 that the cause of syphilis was found – a bacterium named Treponema pallidum. Its cure was found in 1943 by doctors working in New York who administered penicillin to four syphilis patients and cured them.
Modes of Transmission
This disease spreads during vaginal, oral and anal sex, from the infected person to an uninfected one if the latter comes into direct contact with a syphilitic sore, also called a chancre.
Chancres can be on, in or around the rectum, anus, lips, mouth, penis or vagina of the afflicted. Another way its spreads is congenitally, when a pregnant woman passes it on to her unborn child.
Stages of Syphilis
This dreaded disease has four stages. Each of these has different signs and symptoms.
The first stage is the Primary Stage. If you have contracted Syphilis, you will notice round sore/s on your body. This is the spot from where the bacterium has entered your body.
The sore/s can be on, in or around the rectum, anus, lips, mouth, penis or vagina. They are usually firm and painless.
The second stage is called the Secondary Stage. In this, you will get non-itchy skin rashes on your body. These are generally around the mouth, penis or vagina. However, they can also be on your palms or soles.
You may also feel symptoms like:
- Sore throat
- Fever
- Headache
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Weight loss
- Muscle ache and fatigue
The third stage is the Latent Stage in which syphilis remains in your body without showing any signs or symptoms. This period can even last years.
The fourth and last stage is the Tertiary Stage. It is the most serious stage and causes immense damage to your internal organs, resulting in death. Most doctors recommend that the minute you see signs of syphilis in men VA, rush to a testing facility and get an STD panel done immediately.
You can get in touch with stdexpressclinic and book a test today. While the cure is available, it won’t be able to undo the damage already done. But you will still be able to stop it in its tracks.
