Sexually Transmitted Infections: Syphilis
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Sexually transmitted infections: Syphilis
Sexually transmitted infections are infections which are commonly passed from one to person to another through sexual contact, which is any form of unprotected sex, be it vaginal, oral or anal sex. Of these infections, four of them have well been researched over the years and are now curable. They include syphilis, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, and chlamydia. These infections are also caused by a range of different agents, bacteria, viruses.
I was diagnosed with syphilis more than 18 months ago. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection that is a bacterial infection. The bacteria that causes syphilis is called Treponema pallidum. I believed to have gotten the disease from my boyfriend who also had earlier been diagnosed with syphilis. Before we started engaging in sexual activities, my boyfriend would occasionally complain of having a syphilis sore or chancre. My boyfriend had his chancre around his external genitals; but usually, the syphilis can be found around the mouth, in the rectum, also in the vagina and around the infected anus. The sore was always firm, painless and round, and a times would get wet. Common risk factors of syphilis are having underlying diseases like HIV, having several sexual partners, and engaging in unprotected sex. As for me, my greatest risk that greatly exposed to getting the disease was having unprotected sex. We rarely used protection while engaging in sex because we loved and trusted in each other that we didn’t see any need of using any form of protection. Transmission of syphilis mainly through the sexual contact with an infected person as was with my case. However, one can also get the disease through kissing if the syphilis sore is in the mouth of the infected person.
As a syphilis patient, I went through the four stages of syphilis in the course of my infection; and these stages are the primary stage, the secondary stage, the latent stage, which is the hidden stage, and the tertiary stage, which is the late stage. The symptoms I presented with depended with the stage of infection I was at that particular time. But it is worth noting that sometimes these symptoms may overlap. Also, someone maybe having syphilis and not show up the symptoms at an early stages of infection and ends up passing it to other people without knowing. Therefore, I would encourage you to be very cautious about this disease, and if there could be any of you who might have been exposed to syphilis or felt to have been exposed in the past and does not know their status, kindly you should get screened. During the primary infection of syphilis, I noticed enlargement of my lymph nodes around my groin, which occurred during my second month after exposure. This is syphilis chancre that usually develops within the first three months having exposed to syphilis. But to some people, this chancre may heal up on its own in without the infected person actually even realizing it. The healing of the syphilis sore without the notice of the infected person occurs usually within week three to week six after exposure. In my secondary stage, this is where I could presented with a number of real known symptoms. I actually the danger of the infection. I presented with the following additional symptoms, muscles arches, weight loss, skin rashes, muscles arches, hair loss, extreme fatigue, headache and fever. My doctor advised me that it is during this stage, which if medical intervention is not sort immediately, then the disease could end up to be very worse. Again, still during this stage, these symptoms could disappear on their own even without seeking medical attention, but the person however would remain infected and therefore is still likely to infect other people especially if they are still not aware of their conditions. From my doctor’s advice, the deadly reality about the secondary stage especially if the symptoms disappear on their own, is the possibility of re-infection, which could be worse. Personally, I didn’t go through both the latent and the tertiary stages because I got treated of the disease. These are stages that very rare people usually go through, and even if a patient go through these stages, in fact, rarely will they present with any symptoms. However, the fact that they are not presenting any symptoms doesn’t mean that they don’t have syphilis. In latent stage, the disease remains dormant in the body and this occurs especially if the disease was not treated. The late stage, on the other hand, this is where the disease enters its deadly stage. It results into deadly complications which can even result into death. A lot of vital body organs are damaged during this stage including the bones, the liver, the heart, the joints, eyes, and blood vessels. Also, because existence of syphilis is associated with open sores like during the primary and the secondary stages of infection, this poses a risk factor to contacting HIV infection. Another set of complications can be seen in an infected mother as the disease can easily passing to the unborn baby during gestation and affect the baby. For example, could present with mental retardation. Other possible forms of complications during the late stage include dementia, meningitis, cardiovascular diseases, and stroke.
During my syphilis diagnosis, I took one of the blood tests for testing syphilis, plasma regain (RPR) test. This test also helps to identify the presence of syphilis antibodies in the body. Otherwise, other related tests that I would encourage to take if you didn’t want to take the RPR test includes, the rapid immunochromatographic test and the venereal disease research laboratory test. Upon diagnosis and confirmation that I truly have syphilis, I was put immediately on Benzedrine penicillin G. Syphilis treatment is done during the early stages of infection. Notably, there are no over-the-counter drugs for treating syphilis, and therefore, a person has to be diagnosed first in a medical facility before been introduced on the syphilis drugs. The Benzedrine penicillin G is an antibiotic drug that kills any traces of Treponema pallidum in the body. For individuals who could be allergic to this drug, then the doctor attending to them may suggest to them another suitable antibiotic to use or even advises on the possibility of penicillin desensitization.
According to the Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance 2017, the United States reported 30,644 cases of P&R syphilis. This figure translated to 9.5 cases per 100,000 US population. Comparing it with the 2016 figure, there was net increase of 10.5 percent. In 2016, the figures stood at 8.6 cases for every 100,000 US population. The risk factor that was used to explain these statistics by that time was the incidences of men having sexual affairs with fellow men.
It is very important to we discuss the issue of sexually transmitted infections like syphilis with our sexual partners before we engage in sex. Like in case, I ended up getting syphilis of failing to bring up this whole matter with my boyfriend, and therefore failed to take protection. Where the two of you cannot amicably discuss the matter, I would advise that you seek medical intervention maybe from a counsellor. Therefore, it is important to take caution with these infections since majority are preventable only if caution is practiced, and where need for medical assistance is required, I would encourage you not shy off.
References
Braxton, J., Davis, D. W., Emerson, B., Flagg, E. W., Grey, J., Grier, L., … & Llata, E. (2018). Sexually transmitted disease surveillance 2017.
https://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/0715/p283.html
https://www.cdc.gov/std/stats17/syphilis.htm#:~:text=The%20overall%20rate%20of%20reported,population)%20(Table%2030).
Park, I. U., Fakile, Y. F., Chow, J. M., Gustafson, K. J., Jost, H., Schapiro, J. M., … & Beheshti, M. (2019). Performance of treponemal tests for the diagnosis of syphilis. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 68(6), 913-918.
Patel, N. U., Oussedik, E., Landis, E. T., & Strowd, L. C. (2018). Early congenital syphilis: recognising symptoms of an increasingly prevalent disease. Journal of cutaneous medicine and surgery, 22(1), 97-99.
Radolf, J. D., Deka, R. K., Anand, A., Šmajs, D., Norgard, M. V., & Yang, X. F. (2016). Treponema pallidum, the syphilis spirochete: making a living as a stealth pathogen. Nature Reviews Microbiology, 14(12), 744-759.