Syphillis-the STD

The syphilis bacteria is a common sexually transmitted disease (STD) passed on from one person to another through sexual intercourse. Syphilis affects a person in 3 phases, the first two phases referred to as warning phase and last phase is the destructible phase in which body’s immune system totally collapses. The difficulty with this STD is that it doesn’t show any symptoms in patient for years. And often symptoms may match with less serious diseases.

The STD is transmitted from one person to another through open sores. Often sores cannot be detected for they happen in hidden areas of genital, vagina, rectum or anus. Sores can also be found on lips and mouth.

In the first stage of this STD, there appears a small sore on the affected area. This is often referred to as ‘chancre’. It may start with one sore but afterwards multiple sores spreads over. The sores may clear off after about 3 to 6 weeks, but treatment should be started from first stage itself, otherwise second stage will commence.    

The second stage of this STD is associated with various symptoms like fever, fatigue, sore throat, hair loss, muscle pain, headache, weight loss, swollen lymph nodes and rashes. Similar to first stage, these symptoms also disappear with time, but treatment is vital at this stage otherwise it may move on to more dangerous third stage.

The third stage is referred to as latent stage and result in symptoms like blindness, paralysis, disability in mental functioning, chronic numbness, etc. This is probably the last stage that can lead to death.