Unsafe sex increases the risk of dangerous infectious diseases such as syphilis. Symptoms of infection in both men and women are revealed. At what stage is it dangerous and life-threatening? But if you know in time, you can be cure.
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by a bacterium called Treponema pallidum. People who are infected with syphilis in the early stages can develop syphilis sores or chancres. Which appear as raised bumps that break open into large sores around the genitals, mouth, or anus. During this stage of syphilis, patients do not feel any pain around the sores. สมัครสมาชิก UFABET วันนี้ รับเครดิตฟรีทุกวัน Syphilis is often difficult to detect because once the infection enters the body, the symptoms of syphilis may not be obvious, such as chancres in areas that are hard to notice.
In some cases, symptoms may not appear until many years have passed or until the infected person has had a blood test. If syphilis is left untreated in the early stages, a person infected. With syphilis has a high chance of dying. Because the virus spreads and destroys various systems in the body. Therefore, anyone who knows they have syphilis or may have symptoms of syphilis should seek treatment immediately.
Causes of syphilis
- Sex without condoms
- Oral sex
- Kissing an infected person
- Mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy or childbirth
The people who are most at risk of contracting syphilis are people who do not use protection during sex and people who have sex with others.
Symptoms of syphilis at different stages
Syphilis has an incubation period of about 2-4 weeks, or in some infected people, symptoms may not appear for up to a year. You may only know that you have syphilis when you are in the second stage. For the symptoms of syphilis, medicine divides the stages of syphilis into 4 stages, in which each stage may have symptoms of the disease that overlap with each stage as follows:
Stage 1 (Primary syphilis)
The first symptoms of syphilis are the incubation period of syphilis. Which occur about 2-4 weeks after the infected person has been infected. A small 2-4 millimeter blister with a hard edge, called a ‘chancre’, will appear on the genitals, lips, tongue, urethra, conjunctiva or vaginal lining. There may be one or more sores. Infected people with these symptoms do not feel pain, and the sores will disappear on their own within 6 weeks, even if the infected person does not receive treatment.
Stage 2 (Secondary syphilis)
For the symptoms of secondary syphilis, or the so-called ‘blooming stage’, this stage will appear within 3-12 weeks after being infected and will show many symptoms of the disease. Because it is the stage where syphilis spreads to the lymph nodes and bloodstream in the body, such as a rash on the body or palm syphilis, but there will be no itching and there may be necrotic tissue from the rash in patches as well.
Other symptoms include swollen lymph nodes, fever, sore throat, body aches, oral thrush, hair loss, and blood tests that are usually positive. These symptoms come and go, similar to the initial stages of infection.
Stage 3 (Latent syphilis)
Stage 3 syphilis is medically called ‘latent’. People who are infected with the disease. Who have not received treatment for the previous two stages will enter a dormant state where they will not develop any symptoms of syphilis. Syphilis can remain dormant in the body for many years before progressing to stage 4 or latent syphilis.
People who are infected during this stage can spread. The infection to others through sexual intercourse. Or pregnant mothers during this stage can pass syphilis to their unborn babies through the placenta and become infected during birth. For babies infected with syphilis, they will have hearing problems, abnormal teeth or nose structures, and have a unique characteristic called a ‘syphilitic nose’.
Stage 4 (Tertiary syphilis)
For those infected with syphilis who have not been treated and have entered stage 4 or the final stage of syphilis. There will be sores and raised syphilis bumps on the body. At this stage, the germs have spread into the lymphatic system and bloodstream, damaging organs in various systems such as the nervous system and brain, cardiovascular system, liver, eyes, bones and joints, resulting in internal complications such as paralysis, blindness, deafness, dementia, heart valve leakage, and eventually death.
How to spot syphilis in men and women
Syphilis found in women The distinctive feature of syphilis found in both women and men is the symptoms of syphilitic chancre. If touching the sore, it is not painful.
- Syphilis symptoms in women include lumps on the female genitals, white patches on the tongue, sores on the lips, vaginal discharge, and possibly vaginal yeast infection. A yeast infection can cause vaginal itching.
- I have body aches, weight loss, fatigue, and hair loss in patches.
- It is a wound in the vaginal mucosa and cervix.
Syphilis in men appears as a weeping sore called a chancre, similar to syphilis in women. This sore looks similar to herpes. Men with gonorrhea should be tested for syphilis. If they are also infected with syphilis.
- Syphilis lesions in men usually appear on the head of the penis, glans, under the foreskin, around the testicles, in the groin, inside the urethra, and in the anus. For homosexuals,
- Syphilis rashes appear on the hands and other parts of the body, such as the soles of the feet and back.
The effects of syphilis and its life-threatening complications
For those infected who do not receive proper dangerous syphilis treatment, leaving it until the final stage can result in death. This is because the spread of syphilis destroys important systems in the body, especially the nervous system and heart system, causing internal systems to fail. Symptoms dangerous that are often found in people infected with syphilis are as follows:
- Visual and hearing impairment can lead to blindness or deafness.
- Complications related to the heart system, such as heart valve regurgitation, aortic aneurysm, and heart attack.
- Osteoarthritis and osteoporosis
- Diseases related to the nervous system, such as causing dementia and paralysis
- Gum tumors or gum tumors (Gummas) occur in the late stage of syphilis infection. They appear as large lumps on the skin or in internal organs such as bones or liver, which can be treated with antibiotics.
Because contact with secretions from syphilis sores or lesions that appear on the body of an infected person is a medium for spreading the infection, including those who are pregnant while infected with syphilis, it will affect the fetus, possibly causing the baby to dangerous die in the womb or be infected from birth. The babies that are born often have the complications mentioned above.
In addition, one of the misconceptions of society is that ‘syphilis is AIDS’. However, in medical terms, these two diseases are different. Those with syphilis have a chance of being cured if treated in the first or second stage. Those infected with syphilis have a dangerous higher chance of being infected with HIV than those who are not infected with syphilis.
Diagnosis of syphilis
- Dark-field microscopic test (DF) to detect syphilis in people with syphilis who have visible lesions by collecting a sample of the organism from the skin or lymph of an infected person.
- Blood test is a blood test to directly detect antibodies or immunity to syphilis. It is a highly accurate test method, fast results, and can detect early syphilis. Blood test methods are dangerous divided into 2 types: specific and non-specific immunity to syphilis.
- Lumbar puncture: For people with symptoms of tertiary syphilis, doctors will perform a lumbar puncture on an infected person to confirm the disease.
How to cure syphilis safely and completely
Currently, syphilis is treated with high doses of penicillin antibiotics to dangerous kill the bacteria and stop the spread of syphilis. Doctors will inject the infected person with the medication based on how long the infection has been present.
- In people with primary syphilis, doctors will give them just one injection of penicillin intramuscularly, even if they are not showing any symptoms.
- For those infected with secondary and tertiary syphilis, the doctor will inject penicillin into the muscle once a week for 3 consecutive weeks. After the infected person with syphilis has received 3 injections, the doctor will schedule a blood test 3 months and 6 months after treatment and schedule a blood test every year to monitor symptoms of syphilis and prevent the spread of the infection.
- For patients who are allergic to penicillin, the doctor may treat them with another antibiotic instead.
However, the use of syphilis medications may have side effects such as dizziness, fever, and muscle aches. Those infected should be careful and take good precautions, and should abstain from sexual intercourse until the blood test results are negative to prevent the spread of syphilis to others.
How to prevent syphilis
In medical terms, syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease for which there is no vaccine like the HPV vaccine. However, we can protect ourselves from syphilis infection by practicing safe sex.
- Wear a condom every time you have sex.
- Avoid performing oral sex in the affected area.
- Do not change sexual partners frequently
- Do not use drugs or drink alcohol before having sex, as this can lead to unprotected sex.
- Avoid having sex with people infected with syphilis.
- Get an annual health check and exercise regularly.
- Pregnant women should attend the prenatal care program to be screened for syphilis.