| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Contents | ||
The route of transmission is almost invariably by sexual contact; however, there are examples of direct contact infections and of congenital syphilis (transmission from mother to child in utero).
The signs and symptoms of syphilis are myriad; before the advent of serological testing , diagnosis was more difficult and the disease was dubbed the "Great Imitator" because it was so often confused with other diseases.
In the United States, about 36,000 cases of syphilis are reported each year, and the actual number is presumed to be higher. About three-fifths of the reported cases occur in men.
If not treated, syphilis can cause serious effects such as damage to the nervous system, heart, or brain. Untreated syphilis can be fatal. If you think you might have syphilis, or if you find out that a sex partner had or might have had syphilis, see a doctor as soon as possible.
Syphilis can be treated with penicillin or other antibiotics. Statistically, treatment with a course of pills is dramatically less effective than other treatments, because patients tend not to complete the course. The oldest, and still effective, method is to inject procaine penicillin into each buttock (the procaine is added to make the pain bearable); the dose must be given half in each buttock because the amount given would be painful if given in a single injection. An alternative treatment is to administer several capsules of azithromycin orally (which has a long duration of action) under observation. This latter course, however, may be falling on hard times, as strains of syphilis resistent to azithromycin have developed and may account for 10% of cases in some areas in 2004. Other treatments are less effective as the patient is required to take pills several times a day.
Health care professionals suggest that safer sex practices such as the use of condoms should be used in sexual activities, but they should by no means be considered an absolute safeguard. The best suggestion is to avoid sexual activities with anyone known to have a sexually transmissible disease, and indeed anyone whose disease-negative status you aren't certain of.
The origins of syphilis are not known, though it does appear to have been documented by Hippocrates in Classical Greece in its venereal/tertiary form. This form was known in a Greek city of Metaponto in ItalyThe Italian Republic or Italy ( Italian: Italia is a country in the south of Europe, consisting mainly of a boot-shaped peninsula together with two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea: Sicily and Sardinia. To the north, where it borders France, Switzer about 600 BC, and at PompeiiPompeii is not to be confused with the Roman general Pompey. The city of Pompeii along with Herculaneum and many smaller places around the Bay of Naples, were Roman municipalities destroyed during an eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius in 79. The erupt where additional archaeological evidence of uniquely grooved teeth of the children of mothers with syphilis has been found.
Evidence of syphilis in medieval Europe has been found at the site of a 1312th century 13th century 14th century other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. Events Fourth through eighth crusades of western European kingdoms against Islam Fall of- 14th13th century 14th century 15th century more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to 1400. Events The transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age Beginning of th century Augustinian friary in the northeastern English port of Kingston upon Hull.
This friary provided medical care including palliative care and burial rites for "wretched souls". Skeletons discovered at the friary bear bone lesions typical of tertiary venereal syphilis. Carbon dating affirms these skeletons were buried during the existence of the friary, which was destroyed in 1539.
Examination of the friary site revealed bone lesions on two-thirds of the skeletons, including those closest to the altar, a position reserved for the richer and more generous patrons of the order.
This suggests the privileged of Hull had had syphilis for a long time. At that time, Hull was the second largest port of England after London and was a sophisticated metropolitan international port.
Another school of thought has it that syphilis was brought back to Europe from the New World by the crew of Christopher Columbus's first voyage. The evidence is weak and circumstantial, and based on the fact that the first recognized outbreak was at Naples in 1494 where a number of Spaniards from the Columbus crew participated in the army of Charles VIII of France. This theory is challenged by the evidence of syphilis in Hull.
Because of the outbreak in the French army, it was first called morbus gallicus, or the French disease. In that time it is noteworthy that the Italians also called it the "Spanish disease", the French called it the " Italian" or " Neapolitan disease", the Russians called it the " Polish disease", and the Arabs called it the "Disease of the Christians". The name "syphilis" was first applied by Girolamo Fracastoro in 1530 from the name of a shepherd in a poem by Leonardo da Vinci.
A number of famous historical personages, beginning with Charles VIII himself, have been alleged to have had syphilis. Guy de Maupassant and Friedrich Nietzsche are both thought to have been driven insane and ultimately killed by the disease. Al Capone contracted syphilis as a young man. By the time he was incarcerated at Alcatraz, it reached its third stage, neurosyphilis, making him confused and disoriented. The painter Paul Gauguin is also said to have suffered from syphilis.
The insanity caused by late-stage syphilis was once one of the more common forms of dementia; this was known as the general paresis of the insane.
See also: List of notable people identified as probably syphilitic