Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that’s treatable with medication. Without treatment, syphilis causes serious health problems. It can permanently damage your heart, brain, muscles, bones and eyes. To reduce your risk of infection, always use a condom during sex.
A female body showing where syphilis sores develop on your body and where a skin rash develops after.
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that causes sores and a skin rash. It can be life-threatening without treatment.
What is syphilis?
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that spreads when you have vaginal, anal or oral sex with someone who has the infection. A bacteria causes it. Antibiotic medication treats syphilis. Untreated syphilis can lead to serious health problems, including blindness and damage to your brain, heart, eyes and nervous system.
What are the stages of syphilis?
Syphilis can progress through four different stages. The infection causes different symptoms in each stage. People are very contagious in the first and second stages and can easily pass the infection to their sex partners. The stages of syphilis are: primary, secondary, latent and late (tertiary) syphilis.
Primary syphilis: The first stage happens two to 12 weeks after exposure to someone with syphilis. During this stage, a smooth, hard sore called a chancre develops on your genitals or mouth. A chancre is small and usually painless, so you may not even know it’s there. The sore goes away on its own in a few weeks or months. However, this doesn’t mean you don’t have syphilis anymore. If you don’t receive treatment with medication, the infection moves to the second stage. You can pass syphilis through vaginal, anal or oral sex during this stage.
Secondary syphilis: About one to six months after the syphilis sore goes away, a rough, bumpy syphilis rash appears. The rash can cover your entire body, including your palms and soles (bottoms) of your feet. The rash doesn’t us
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