Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Syphilis (/ ˈ s ɪ f ə l ɪ s /) is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. [1] The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent or tertiary.
A chancre (/ ˈ ʃ æ ŋ k ər / SHANG-kər) [1] is a painless genital ulcer most commonly formed during the primary stage of syphilis. [2] This infectious lesion forms around 21 days after the initial exposure to Treponema pallidum, the gram-negative spirochaete bacterium causing syphilis, but can range from 10 to 90 days. [2]
The signs and symptoms of neurosyphilis vary with the disease stage of syphilis. The stages of syphilis are categorized as primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary. It is important to note that neurosyphilis may occur at any stage of infection. [citation needed] Meningitis is the most-common neurological presentation in early syphilis. It ...
Treponema pallidum, formerly known as Spirochaeta pallida, is a microaerophilic, gram-negative, spirochaete bacterium with subspecies that cause the diseases syphilis, bejel (also known as endemic syphilis), and yaws. [1] It is known to be transmitted only among humans and baboons. [2]
General paresis, also known as general paralysis of the insane (GPI), paralytic dementia, or syphilitic paresis is a severe neuropsychiatric disorder, classified as an organic mental disorder, and is caused by late-stage syphilis and the chronic meningoencephalitis and cerebral atrophy that are associated with this late stage of the disease when left untreated.
There is no definite treatment, but, because syphilis may be an underlying cause, it should be treated. However, because this sign is associated with neurosyphilis, it should be treated with crystalline penicillin 24 mU intravenous per day for 10 to 14 days.
Intravenous penicillin has been the primary treatment for syphilitic aortitis since the 1940s. The underlying bacterium of syphilis, T. pallidum, continues to be sensitive to penicillin as the lack of horizontal gene transfer mechanisms makes it difficult for the bacterium to mutate and resist treatment. [4]
Tabes dorsalis is caused by demyelination by advanced syphilis infection (tertiary syphilis) when the primary infection by the causative spirochete bacterium, Treponema pallidum, is left untreated for an extended period of time (past the point of blood infection by the organism). [3]