China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Syphilis
Published in Scott M. Jackson, Skin Disease and the History of Dermatology, 2023
In the eighteenth century, venereal diseases such as gonorrhea, syphilis, and chancroid were rampant problems in London and Paris, and it was generally believed, presumably because they were frequently found present in a person at the same time, that all of these diseases were caused by the same contagion. There was little distinction between these diseases in the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries, and all were collectively referred to in many medical texts of the era as simply venereal disease. Although gonorrhea, a bacterial infection of the urethra, was an ancient disease and syphilis was a new one, most practitioners of the period saw gonorrhea as the early, local stage of the disease, and the signs of morbus venerea indicated that the disease had spread all over the body.55 The ulcer of chancroid, another bacterial infection that causes genital ulceration most commonly in persons who have intercourse with sex workers, was not distinguished clinically as different from the chancre of syphilis until the nineteenth century. Opponents of this “unity theory” were in the minority in the eighteenth century, but their numbers did grow eventually; one in particular, Francis Balfour (1744–1818), authored Dissertatio medica inauguralis, de gonorrhoea virulenta in 1767, and a small controversy ensued.
Syphilis causes termination of life
Published in Dinesh Kumar Jain, Homeopathy, 2022
Chancroid or soft chancre is a sexually transmitted infection, characterized by painful genital ulceration … The incidence of chancroid is unknown owing to inaccurate clinical diagnosis and incomplete reporting … Chancroid is more common than syphilis … In contrast to syphilis the chancroidal ulcer in males is painful and not indurated … Acute, painful tender inflammatory inguinal adenopathy occurs in almost 50 percent of patients and frequently unilateral. If the patient is untreated, the involved nodes become matted forming a unilocular suppurative bubo. The overlying skin becomes erythematous and tense and finally ruptures forming a deep single ulcer … The chancre of primary syphilis is indurated and the associated adenopathy is bilateral, nontender and nonsuppurative … Untreated chancroidal ulcers persist for long period of time and often progress. Small lesions may heal within 2 to 4 weeks.
Skin disorders in AIDS, immunodeficiency, and venereal disease
Published in Rashmi Sarkar, Anupam Das, Sumit Sethi, Concise Dermatology, 2021
Indrashis Podder, Rashmi Sarkar
Syphilis has recently generated renewed interest because of the rising incidence of AIDS; the syphilitic chancre serves as a portal of entry for the HIV virus as well as the more dramatic presentation of syphilis in AIDS patients. The disease is caused by the delicate spirochaetal microorganism Treponema pallidum, which is transmitted by contact between mucosal surfaces.
Emerging compounds and therapeutic strategies to treat infections from Trypanosoma brucei: an overhaul of the last 5-years patents
Published in Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents, 2023
Francesco Melfi, Simone Carradori, Cristina Campestre, Entela Haloci, Alessandra Ammazzalorso, Rossella Grande, Ilaria D’Agostino
Infection is usually divided into two stages: firstly, the haemolymphatic stage and, secondly, the meningoencephalitic phase, which is characterized by the central nervous system (CNS) entry. Chancre at the site of inoculation may proceed with the symptoms of the first stage after being bitten by an infected fly (more commonly with Tbr and sparingly with Tbg despite, in this case, it is observed in travelers from non-endemic countries). Common symptoms/signs for both types of diseases during the first stage can include fatigue, malaise, headache, weakness, pruritis, weight loss, arthralgia, hepatosplenomegaly, and intermittent fevers. In the second stage of the disease, it is clinically relevant to the invasion of the CNS, which causes a variety of neuropsychiatric manifestations (i.e. reversed sleep/wake cycle characterized by nocturnal insomnia and daytime somnolence) but with a less frequent fever, thus conferring the epithet of African sleeping sickness to the disease. Other important and fatal symptoms comprehend mental, motor, sensory, and neurologic alterations. Signs and symptoms of this disease remain nonspecific and variable, hampering clinical diagnosis of the disease.
Encephalitis lethargica in Peru
Published in Journal of the History of the Neurosciences, 2021
Santiago Stucchi-Portocarrero, Miguel Humberto Tomas-Miranda
Concerning this case, Espejo-Tamayo discussed the possibility that the case was, in reality, an example of neurosyphilis and not encephalitis lethargica. The patient had a medical history that included a chancre, and this lesion suggestive of lues was further supported by laboratory evidence. Nonetheless, in the end, it seems that Espejo-Tamayo leaned toward the hypothesis of epidemic encephalitis as the probable etiology, noting the clinical depiction was more consistent with this disease because there was a long latency period between the lethargic manifestations and the onset of parkinsonism. Besides, “the initiation of the encephalitis process” corresponded with “the characteristic syndrome of infectious diseases: fever, general malaise, etcetera” (Espejo-Tamayo 1926, 116). It seems evident that he was referring to the prodromes of viral diseases.
Double Trouble: Challenges in the Diagnosis and Management of Ocular Syphilis in HIV-infected Individuals
Published in Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, 2020
Rafael de Pinho Queiroz, Derrick P. Smit, Remco P.H. Peters, Daniel Vitor Vasconcelos-Santos
Syphilis is a bacterial infection caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum.24,25 Transmission is predominantly through sexual contact and from mother to child as the spirochete crosses the placenta easily; transmission through blood transfusion is rare. The mode of transmission does not affect the risk of the development of OS or NS. The spirochetes are present in open skin lesions, such as in primary chancres, mucous patches, and condylomata lata, and are transmitted upon sexual contact. The transmission rate is around 30% in case of open skin lesions, but much lower when the skin is intact and the number of spirochetes is low, e.g. during secondary syphilis. Individuals with early latent syphilis can still be infectious due to healing or unnoticed skin lesions. Inoculation of T. pallidum from secretions can lead to infection at any site of contact and result in primary chancres of lips, oral cavity, breasts, and genitals through kissing, touching, and sexual contact.