Syphilis - Biotech, Pharma and Life Science Channel
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochetal bacteria Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission of syphilis is through sexual contact however it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth resulting in congenital syphilis.
The signs and symptoms of syphilis vary depending on which of the four stages it presents in (primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary). The primary stage typically presents with a single chancre, secondary syphilis with a diffuse rash, latent with little to no symptoms, and tertiary with gummas, neurological, or cardiac symptoms. Diagnosis is usually via blood tests. It can be effectively treated with antibiotics, specifically intramuscular penicillin G.
Syphilis is believed to have infected 12 million people worldwide in 1999 with greater than 90% of cases in the developing world. Rates of infection have increased during the 2000s in many countries. As of 2010 there is no vaccine effective for prevention.
The first-choice treatment for uncomplicated syphilis remains a single dose of intramuscular penicillin G. Doxycycline and tetracycline are alternative choice. Antibiotic resistance has developed to a number of agents including macrolides, clindamycin, and rifampin. Ceftriaxone maybe as effective as penicillin based treatment.
For neurosyphilis it is recommended that those affected be given large doses of intravenous penicillin for a minimum of 10 days. Other late presentations may be treated with once weekly intramuscular penicillin G for three weeks. One of the potential side effects of treatment is the Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction. It frequently starts within one hour and lasts for 24 hours with symptoms of fever, muscles pains, headache, and tachycardia. It is caused by cytokines released from rupturing bacterial cells.
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PubMed Articles
Himatanthus articulatus (Apocynaceae) is a plant native to the Amazon, popularly used to treat external ulcers, tumors, inflammations, cancer, syphilis and malaria.
Syphilis as a diagnosis of liver abnormalities in HIV.
In order to investigate syphilitic liver involvement in HIV-infected patients, a single-centre retrospective study of a cohort of HIV-infected patients with syphilis was performed at the Infectious Di...
This study compared the correlates of HIV risk among men who have sex with men (MSM) with newly diagnosed versus previously known HIV infection among 5,148 MSM recruited using modified snowball sampli...
Palatal Perforation Due to Late Congenital Syphilis.
This study characterized the HIV epidemic among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Quito, Ecuador and contrasted risk patterns with other STI's. 416 MSM ages 15 years and older were recruited using r...
HIV Among Injection Drug Users and Their Intimate Partners in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
This paper examines prevalence rates of HIV, HCV, and syphilis among a sample of injecting drug users (IDUs) and their heterosexual intimate partners (N = 728) from Almaty, Kazakhstan. The study use...
Malignant syphilis in an immunocompetent patient.
In 2009-2010, females who reported having vaginal, anal or oral sex in exchange for money in the previous year, ≥16 years, and living in either Chisinau (n = 299) or Balti (n = 359), Moldova, w...
We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of community empowerment interventions for HIV prevention among sex workers in low- and middle-income countries from 1990-2010. Two coders abstracted...
Comment re: Unilateral solitary choroidal granuloma as presenting sign of secondary syphilis.
News Articles
MEDFORD, N.Y., May 14, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chembio Diagnostics, Inc. (Nasdaq:CEMI), a leader in point-of-care diagnostic tests for infectious diseases, announces receipt of an evaluation report...
Chembio: A Potentially Undervalued Diagnostics Biotech
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You Know What's Depressing? Finding Out You Have an STD
When you think about “sexual health” you may think “STDs”— as in, herpes, HIV, gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, and a host of other infections I won’t go into. One thing that probably doesn...
You Know What’s Depressing? Finding Out You Have an STD
When you think about “sexual health,” you may think “STDs”—as in, herpes, HIV, gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, and a host of other infections I won’t go into. One thing that probably doesn...
Raising Awareness About Cancer Clinical Trials In Multicultural Communities
By the National Cancer Institute Editor's Note: The following article is part of the monthly Lifelines education and awareness print series that the National Cancer Institute provides to Africa...
Syphilis continues to affect large numbers of women and their offspring worldwide, despite the feasibility of screening and treating such women, even in low-resource settings, report researchers from...
Condom Nation Cruises into Spring Lake, NC!
AIDS Healthcare Foundation: What: Free condom distribution & HIV and Syphilis tes...
HIV, Syphilis Reverse Testing Algorithms
Pros, cons of efforts to respond to technological advances
Why the University of Minnesota psychiatric research scandal must be investigated
Carl ElliottThree former editors of the New England Journal of Medicine have called for an investigation. So has the scholar who uncovered the Guatemala syphilis studies. The former Health and Disabil...
Accuracy of Point-of-Care Tests for Syphilis Analyzed
Syphilis is on the rise worldwide and there is an urgent need for reliable and rapid screening, particularly for...
Events
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Companies
Few inventions in science and medicine have had such a profound effect on human health as the discovery and subsequent development of antibiotics. Following their introduction during World War II ma...
Clinical Trials
Clinical and Laboratory Investigation of Humans With Informative Iron or Erythroid Phenotypes
This study will examine blood for factors that may cause or prevent diseases involving iron or red blood cells. Iron is an important nutrient for human health that is needed to produce red...
Screening Protocol for HIV Vaccine Studies
Healthy volunteers will be screened under this protocol for possible participation in a study testing a vaccine against HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Healthy adults 18 to 60 years of a...
This study will evaluate the effectiveness of a test called MCV in guiding phlebotomy (blood drawing) therapy in patients with hemochromatosis-an inherited disorder that causes too much ir...
Evaluation of HIV-Negative Patients With Low CD4+ T Lymphocyte Counts
This study will evaluate HIV-negative patients with unusually low levels of CD4+ T lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) to learn more about the clinical symptoms, cause, immunology, an...
To provide information on the response of HIV infected, neurosyphilis patients to the currently recommended treatment for neurosyphilis; to determine whether possible co-infection with bot...
This study will look at viral and immunologic factors involved in protecting against sexually transmitted HIV infection in couples in which one partner is infected and the other is not....
Immune Reconstitution Syndrome in HIV-Infected Patients Taking Antiretroviral Therapy
This study will investigate what factors may lead to the development of immune reconstitution syndrome (IRIS) in HIV-infected patients and what the outcome is after IRIS. It will also seek...
Infections and Autoimmunity: Autobodies Screening in Multiple Sclerosis
The purpose of this investigation is to assess the prevalence of infectious disease seropositivity (toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus [CMV]), herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and...
Lay Health Advisors for Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention
Non-professional community leaders may be at a great advantage in reaching otherwise hard to reach populations for the purpose of advising on sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention...
Multi-Site Study of Rapid Diagnostic Syphilis Assays
The performance of an investigational immunochromatographic strip (ICS) test for the diagnosis of syphilis is compared with the Abbott Laboratories Determine ICS test. The study populatio...
Videos
Do I Have Syphilis? Signs and Symptoms of Syphilis
Learn the signs and symptoms of syphilis. See a doctor, get tested, and follow their instructions if you have symptoms of any sexually transmitted infection ...
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Syphilis
A contagious venereal disease caused by the spirochete TREPONEMA PALLIDUM.
Syphilis Serodiagnosis
Serologic tests for syphilis.
Syphilis, Cardiovascular
Cardiovascular manifestations of SYPHILIS, an infection of TREPONEMA PALLIDUM. In the late stage of syphilis, sometimes 20-30 years after the initial infection, damages are often seen in the blood vessels including the AORTA and the AORTIC VALVE. Clinical signs include syphilitic aortitis, aortic insufficiency, or aortic ANEURYSM.
Syphilis, Congenital
Syphilis acquired in utero and manifested by any of several characteristic tooth (Hutchinson's teeth) or bone malformations and by active mucocutaneous syphilis at birth or shortly thereafter. Ocular and neurologic changes may also occur.
Syphilis, Cutaneous
Cutaneous lesions arising from infection with Treponema pallidum. In the primary stage, 18-21 days following infection, one or more chancres appear. If untreated, the subsequent stages of the disease appear as syphilids. These eruptions are superficial, nondestructive, exanthematic, transient, macular roseolas that may later be maculopapular or papular polymorphous or scaly, pustular, pigmented eruptions.(Arnold, Odom, and James, Andrew's Diseases of the Skin, 8th ed, p409)
