When the term ‘Syphilis’ is heard, one may think of a lot of terrible things. Truly, Syphilis is a disease that should be dreaded by all, and that once a person observes some signs of syphilis, turning a blind eye would only cause the worst. One of the several sexually transmitted diseases, syphilis is an infection that is triggered by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. The disease is generally characterized in four stages. These four stages are
1. the primary,
2. the secondary,
3. the latent; and lastly,
4. the tertiary stage.
When a person is infected by the syphilis bacterium, an incubation period will take place. This incubation period lasts between 9-90 days, the average period being at about 21 days, before any first symptoms and telltale signs of this disease appear. Each of the particular stages of the syphilis disease have their own individual characteristic signs, however, any particular symptom may or may not appear.
So first off, let us talk about the telltale signs of the primary stage. This particular stage typically starts with a chancre or a sore on a victim’s skin and is usually seen in the mouth, rectum or the victim’s genitals. This chancre is described by those who had it as feeling just as a button: one that’s round, firm, not tender to touch as well as measuring usually half an inch across. To add also, there may be swelling of the victim’s lymph nodes that are located in the groin. Usually, these swelled lymph nodes are never tender either. The persons who are infected with the disease usually do not feel ill during the primary stage. Spontaneously, the chancre would heal after around 4-6 weeks. This is quite the main problem since it can send the wrong signals to the victim that there is nothing wrong. But the truth is that the disease did not actually go away, and instead will continue to spread in the victim’s body.
When the primary stage has already crawled to the secondary stage, the victim can already feel different. The common symptoms of the secondary stage include loss of appetite, achiness, headache and rashes may start to appear. This secondary stage, one should take note, often starts several weeks after those sores or chancre heal, and once the syphilis bacteria have already spread throughout the victim’s body. The rash which will be visible in the course of the second stage usually has a reddish-brown color, widespread and not itchy. Nevertheless, the appearance of the individual lesions of the rash is able to dramatically vary. The rash’ lesions may appear raised or flat, they may become scaly or not, and they may be pustules or not. With this impressive variability, the syphilis disease is able to snag the interests of many and be called ‘the great imitator’, since the disease is able to resemble several other conditions. This rash can usually last for some several weeks or months.
Furthermore, other signs that are present during the second stage can include some sores in the victim’s throat, nose, mouth, genitals and/or on the folds of the victim’s skin. There can also be some lymph node swelling and some patchy hair loss. These signs will disappear even without any treatment in around 3weeks up until 9 months. But still, the infection is all the more present in the victim’s body.
There won’t be any symptoms in the latent stage. This stage may last from several years up to fifty years! Syphilis symptoms in men in the latent stage won’t show, however this disease is still detectable through blood test.
Finally, the tertiary stage can cause great damage to several organs of the victim’s body. It can definitely affect the person’s nervous system which in turn will be responsible to the loss of the victim’s mental functioning. Also, the disease may affect the victim’s aorta, thus resulting a heart disease. Other common signs of the tertiary syphilis are anemia, liver disease, bone pain, non-healing skin ulcers as well as fever.
The mentioned facts are enough to scare anyone. Syphilis is definitely a disease which should be taken seriously and should be avoided or stopped in becoming worse. That’s why it is crucial for an infected person to immediately run to any syphilis testing clinics if they feel something is wrong in their body. If confidentiality remains a big factor to a person’s decision to visit a clinic, then there are no worries since there are private clinics that can ensure their patient’s confidentiality.
Signs of Syphilis– these are often hard to detect. Learn more about the disease now to help you better identify its symptoms.