How to Recognize Syphilis Symptoms
Syphilis has a relatively long incubation period (between 10 and 90 days), making it difficult to catch.
Many of the symptoms are subtle, and the disease has been dubbed the "great imitator" due to its proclivity to mimic other conditions like canker sores, herpes, and Lyme disease. It can also be divided into four stages: primary syphilis, secondary syphilis, latent syphilis, and tertiary syphilis.
People with primary syphilis will first develop round, firm, and painless sores called "chancres" on their genitals, anus, rectum, or mouth. The fact that the chancres usually disappears without treatment makes diagnosis difficult.
If left untreated, a person may develop the final stage of syphilis 10 to 30 years after infection. It can cause severe damage to multiple organs, including the skin, heart, brain, bones, and liver, and it is potentially fatal.
How to Defend Yourself Against Syphilis
There is currently no vaccine for syphilis, owing to a lack of understanding of the disease's molecular mechanisms, according to Swarup. The current focus of research is on the outer membrane "adhesins" that bind to host cells.
According to Minkin and Swarup, the best way to protect yourself from this disease is to get tested for STIs before starting a new sexual relationship and to always use condoms.
Swarup went on to say that while syphilis can be cured with the right antibiotics, the infection can still cause irreversible damage.
"This is a nasty disease, and the tragedy is that it's so easy to test for it," Minkin said. "A simple blood test will do the trick!"
If you’re sexually active, be sure to use condoms and get tested for STIs regularly. Syphilis can be diagnosed with a simple blood test and treated effectively with antibiotics before it becomes more serious.