syphilis

syphilis, systemic disease that is caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum. Syphilis is usually a sexually transmitted disease, but it is occasionally acquired by direct nonsexual contact with an infected person, and it can also be acquired by an unborn fetus through infection in the mother. A related group of infections, collectively known as treponematosis or nonvenereal syphilis, is not spread by sexual contact and is localized in warm parts of the world where crowded conditions and poor health care favour its development.

The causative organism of venereal syphilis is a slender, coiled, flexible bacterium with regular, tightly wound coils. This bacterium, T. pallidum, averages 8 to 10 microns (millionths of a metre) in length. The bacterium requires moisture to exist, so continuous moisture is a necessity for the transfer of the microorganism from one person to another. The most common means of such transferal is sexual intercourse. In the body’s tissues, the spirochete bacteria reproduce and remain present for the lifetime of the infected person unless destroyed by treatment. Syphilis is effectively treated with penicillin, which kills the spirochetes.

Syphilis through history

The historical origin of venereal syphilis is obscure. Indisputable reference to it in European literature occurred only after the return of Columbus from the New World. The rapidly spreading scourge was given several names, including “Great Pox” and “French disease,” the latter after invading French soldiers either brought the infection to Italy or caught it from the Italians. The modern name was coined in 1530 by the Italian physician and writer Girolamo Fracastoro, who made poetic reference to a mythic Greek shepherd, Syphilus, who was cursed by the god Apollo with a dread disease. The theory of a New World origin has been supported by evidence of treponematosis found in the skeletal remains of pre-Columbian American Indians. On the other hand, “leprosy” in Europe before 1500 was considered highly contagious, was associated with sexual contact, had hereditary features, and was said to respond to mercury therapy; therefore, it is possible that many cases thought to be leprosy were actually syphilis.

Discover how ordinary objects work, and expand your understanding of the familiar.

SIGN UP

" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">

Thank you for signing up!"

Back to homepage

By clicking "Sign Up", you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

After the post-Columbian outbreak, treatment of syphilitic lesions with mercury was widespread, and in 1836 potassium iodide, less toxic and more effective, was introduced. The first drug to attack the spirochete directly—arsphenamine, an arsenic compound commonly known as Salvarsan or 606—was developed in 1909 by the German bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich. Much was learned about the course of the disease from the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study (1932–72). The use of antibiotics developed in 1943 after the discovery by the American physician John Friend Mahoney and others that penicillin was an effective treatment for nonadvanced cases of syphilis. Since that time the number of syphilis cases has declined considerably, particularly in developed countries.

Course of the disease

The course of untreated venereal syphilis spans three stages. The primary stage, beginning anywhere from 10 days to 10 weeks following infection, is marked by the appearance of a small, hard, painless swelling, or chancre, at the site of inoculation—usually the genital organs but on occasion the mouth or rectum. The chancre enlarges and often breaks in the centre, leaving a shallow ulcer. The chancre may be so slight in colour as to go unnoticed, but the presence of spirochetes in the chancre serum is diagnostic for syphilis. Even without treatment, this sore heals within 10 to 40 days, leaving no scar.

Britannica Quiz

A Visit with the Word Doctor: Medical Vocabulary Quiz

The secondary stage, evident in about half the persons infected, is characterized by rashes on the skin, particularly on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. Other generalized symptoms include fever, sore throat, enlargement of the lymph nodes, and headaches. The secondary stage may begin four to eight weeks after the appearance of the chancre, or it may be delayed for many months; it lasts for a variable period up to several months, and the skin lesions disappear spontaneously, usually without scarring. Throughout both the primary and secondary stages of syphilis, the infection can easily be passed to other people who come into contact with the open sores.

Following the secondary stage, a latent period ensues, ranging in length from a few months to a lifetime, during which no outward sign of syphilis is recognizable; serologic tests, however, remain positive for a long time. Most patients with latent syphilis, even if untreated, do not progress to the final stage—called late, or tertiary, syphilis—but about one in four may be expected to do so. In about half the patients showing tertiary-stage symptoms, the disease is relatively benign, but in the rest it is incapacitating or fatal. Almost any part of the body may be affected by the spirochetes. In cardiovascular syphilis, for example, large numbers of spirochetes attack the aorta (the great trunk artery carrying blood from the heart), destroying elastic tissue, predisposing to aneurysm (localized thinning and swelling), and producing degeneration of the aortic valves. Neurosyphilis mimics other neurologic disorders and can be crippling if not fatal. For example, paresis, a particularly fearsome degeneration into insanity, is caused by widespread destruction of the brain by the spirochetes. Another neurologic disorder, tabes dorsalis, or locomotor ataxia, is produced by degeneration of the posterior columns of the spinal cord; it brings on intense back pain, lack of muscular coordination, and wasting.

Explore Britannica Premium!

The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.

SUBSCRIBE

Benign late syphilis is indicated by ulcerated lesions, called gummas, of the skin, mucous membranes, bone, and other organs, particularly the liver, testes, and brain. These lesions are not infectious, and the term benign is used because they usually do not endanger the patient’s life.

Syphilis is transmitted to the fetuses of untreated pregnant women. This is most likely to occur when the woman becomes infected during pregnancy, though untreated infection prior to pregnancy also poses a risk. About one-fourth of affected fetuses die and are spontaneously aborted, while another one-fourth die soon after birth. Those infants who survive may be born with rashes, pneumonia, and skeletal abnormalities. If congenital syphilis is not treated, blindness, deafness, perforation of the palate, inflammation of the liver, and involvement of the central nervous system may ensue. On rare occasions a congenitally syphilitic infant may appear normal at birth and show no symptoms until adolescence, when manifestations of late-stage syphilis usually appear.

The nonvenereal syphilis diseases are caused by other Treponema bacteria; some researchers consider them to be subspecies of T. pallidum, while others classify them as separate species. The illnesses and their agents include: yaws (T. pertenue), occurring in equatorial regions around the world; bejel, or endemic syphilis (T. endemicum), found mainly in the Middle East and Saharan region; and pinta (T. carateum), most common in the Caribbean and Central and South America. These infections are passed by direct contact, usually among children and young adults. They cause early skin and mouth lesions that are indistinguishable from those caused by venereal syphilis, and in some cases bone deformation may follow. However, the nervous and cardiovascular systems rarely become seriously affected, and fatalities are very rare. All of these infections are quickly and effectively treated by penicillin.