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- Syphilis is a curable, bacterial infection, that left untreated will progress through four stages with increasingly serious symptoms.
- A person can get syphilis from another person if the soft skin of the mucous membrane found inside the vagina, urethra and anus or a cut/abrasion come into contact with an infected lesions, found during primary & secondary syphilis, during vaginal, oral and anal sex, even if there is no sexual penetration.
- Syphilis can be detected by a blood test, which looks for antibodies developed by the body. It can sometimes take a week to a few months to develop enough antibodies for a blood test to detect. Because of this, testing during early primary syphilis may come back with a false-negative result. Another way of testing for syphilis is by testing fluid taken from lesions or a chancre (infectious sore), which occur during primary or secondary syphilis. This is done by using a special microscope called a darkfield microscope (darkfield exam). It is possible to receive a false negative result from a darkfield exam, so a negative result does not necessarily rule out syphilis.
- Syphilis is curable with antibiotics, and the preferred treatment is penicillin. Treatment for those who are allergic to penicillin, pregnant women, or infants born with syphilis, may vary.
- Prevention and risk reduction:
- Abstinence (not having sex)
- Mutual monogamy (having sex with only one uninfected partner)
- Latex condoms for vaginal and anal sex
- Untreated syphilis from early to late stages can produce symptoms from 17 days up to 30+ years. While curable with antibiotics, complications that may develop in later stages cannot be reversed with treatment.
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