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submitted: Apr 6th 2008 | by: ElizabethCampbell | Total views: 3 | Word Count: 499 | |

We are all exposed to this infection, every day of the year, every hour. It does not really matter what is our field, we can contract this disease in so many places it is hard to imagine. This is a highly contagious disease produced by bacteria, known under the name of Treponema Pallidum.

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.

Having any form of contact with body fluids from an infected person will put the individual in the same high risk of infection. Contaminated body fluids like blood, seminal and vaginal secretions, and saliva are excellent media for bacteria transmission. Mothers can transmit the disease to their babies.

Nothing seems to be amiss in the body right after the exposure. At the start, the bacteria will maintain a very low profile and symptoms will not be apparent. However, if not immediately treated, it will start its slow but painful development that can have a hideous and tragic ending.

The first symptom of the infection is the appearance of a single sore, which can be round or oval in shape and hard to the touch, and painless. Observed increase in lymphatic ganglions could also be a sign of infection. The vulva area, the area around the penis and the anus could also start to swell.

As the disease moves on to the secondary phase, other indications appear. There will be skin eruptions at the skin level, spreading all over the body. Small red blisters start to develop around the areas of the mouth, on the palms of the hand or on the soles of the feet. The wounds heal without treatment, but the infection continues to progress. If the patient disregards the symptoms and still not undergo treatment, the infection will slowly but surely proceed to the latent phase of the disease.

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 state can again, last for several years without manifesting any symptoms. The "late syphilis stage" begins after five to twenty five years from the first exposure, regardless if it was due to sexual contact or not. At this stage the bacteria will invade the body and the damage will now be visible. It will subsequently destroy the internal organs, the brain, heart, bones, and nervous system.

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