Knowing More About Syphilis Can Save Your Life
Elizabeth Campbell
Everybody could be exposed to this infection every single hour. Regardless of what work we do, we can catch this disease from all sources you can imagine. This is a very communicable disease caused by a bacterium known as Treponema Palladium.
Generally, the disease can be contracted through sexual contact with a person who has the disease. On the other hand, there are other ways to get the disease. The bacteria can be transferred to a non-infected person through kissing or biting, as well as other non-sexual means. The bacteria can easily be transferred by handling infected items.
Any direct contact with infected body fluids present the same high risk of contamination. Body fluids, like saliva, vaginal secretions, blood, seminal liquid, when contaminated, can infect a healthy individual if that person goes into direct contact with them. It is also possible that the mothers transmit the bacteria to their newborns.
Right after exposure to the bacteria, there is nothing going on. The start of the evolution of these nasty bacteria can be discreet and the symptoms could be missing. If it is left untreated, it has a slow and painful evolution and the ending of it is ugly and dramatic.
The first indication of syphilis infection is the appearance of one skin lesion. It could be round or oblong in shape, firm and painless. Swelling of the lymph glands could also be a sign of infection. Additionally, here will be swelling in the penis, vulva, and anal area.
When the infection progresses to the secondary phase, indications of the primary stage will disappear. Skin rashes and lesions on the mucous membrane will develop over a large area of the skin. Rough red spots may develop in the palm of the hands and bottom of the feet. All the symptoms and indications of the secondary syphilis could get healed without treatment but the infection stays in the body. If this goes untreated, the infection will slowly but surely advance to the latent stage of syphilis.
In syphilis infection even when the indications for primary and secondary infection disappear even without undergoing treatment, it does not mean that the disease has been cured. The bacteria are inside the body and continuously evolving towards the next phase. The growth period can last up to 90 days and all this time there could be no noticeable symptoms. The primary and secondary phase of syphilis could be considered the "easy" stages compared to what the patient will go through as the infection enters the latent stage.
The latent stage of the disease can last for several years, still without any signs or symptoms. The "late stage" of the syphilis is set off five to twenty five years after the first exposure whether it was acquired through sexual contact or by other means. At this stage, the pathogen will wreak havoc on the body and signs of damage will now appear. The internal organs, heart, bones, brain, actually the entire body can be affected.
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