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Syphilis
Published in Scott M. Jackson, Skin Disease and the History of Dermatology, 2023
Syphilis is another major historical disease with prominent dermatologic manifestations. Of the four maladies highlighted in this text, syphilis is uniquely important in the development of dermatology as a specialty of medicine, and it remains relevant today. Syphilis is an infection caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum, a corkscrew-shaped spirochete with whip-like structures (flagella) at its poles. Syphilis is not the only treponemal disease; there are three others—pinta, yaws, and bejel—that are referred to as the non-venereal endemic treponematoses; all of these are also caused by T. pallidum. Known primarily as a sexually transmitted disease, syphilis can also be transmitted transplacentally. It is known to medical students as the “Great Imitator” because it mimics so many different diseases and can affect virtually every major organ system, including the central nervous and cardiovascular systems. As the renowned William Osler famously claimed, “He who knows syphilis, knows medicine.”
Treatment of syphilis
Published in Dinesh Kumar Jain, Homeopathy, 2022
To be effective in syphilis and other treponematoses, high blood concentration of penicillin 0.03 units per ml. must be attained. Moreover because penicillin only attacks actively dividing organisms and treponemas divide only slowly, this high concentration must be maintained for periods upto 15 days to ensure that all the organisms have been killed and to prevent relapses. In syphilis, penicillin is best given in daily intramuscular doses of 600000 to one million units of procaine penicillin G.
Phospholipid Antibodies in Natural and Experimental Syphilis
Published in E. Nigel Harris, Thomas Exner, Graham R. V. Hughes, Ronald A. Asherson, Phospholipid-Binding Antibodies, 2020
Konrad Wicher, Victoria Wicher
The purpose of this review is to discuss and shed some light on the unsolved question related to the origin of the immunogen(s) eliciting phospholipid antibodies in natural and experimental infection with T. pallidum. The discussion will focus on venereal syphilis since it has been the most studied disease among the treponematoses.
Infectious diseases among Ethiopian immigrants in Israel: a descriptive literature review
Published in Pathogens and Global Health, 2021
Yulia Treister-Goltzman, Ali Alhoashle, Roni Peleg
Syphilis is very common among EI with a positivity serology rate of about 8–12% among adults [4,51]. There was no evidence of skin or cardiovascular involvement among EI with positive serology for syphilis. There was no evidence of neuropsychiatric disease among individuals who had positive serology for treponema in their spinal fluid [51]. Congenital syphilis among EI comprised 28.6% of all syphilis cases in Israel [4]. There appear to be two reasons for this high prevalence rate of positive serology for syphilis among EI. The first is classic sexual transmission, which is supported by the jump in the prevalence of positive serology among 15–44-year-olds [4], and the association of positive serology with the length of stay in refugee camps in Addis Ababa among EI who participated in the Solomon Operation (OR = 3.87) [23]. The second reason is the disease Yaws (endemic treponematoses) caused by Treponema pertenue, which is very common in Africa. The clinical course is very benign among EI, which also supports this cause [51].
Serologic false-positive reactions for syphilis in children of adenoidal hypertrophy:2 case reports and review of the literature
Published in Acta Clinica Belgica, 2021
Wei Wang, Xuzhou Fan, Xuelian Huang, Jingmei Yan, Jianfeng Luan
Treponematoses are infections caused by the spirochetal organisms of the Treponema species. These causes mainly include syphilis and nonvenereal or endemic treponematoses (ETs) consisting of yaws, bejel and pinta [14]. Unlike syphilis, the nonvenereal treponematoses are mainly transmitted through skin-to-skin contact, and children under 15 years of age are more susceptible to these diseases in tropical and subtropical areas. It is almost impossible to distinguish these diseases from each other by morphology or by serological tests [15]. The patient’s disease state may also lead to false positive reactions in serological tests of ETs. So the establishment of the diagnosis of ETs can be even more difficult in countries with poor laboratory diagnostics but high rates of syphilis.