Seeking medical help
- If you suspect you may have had contact with syphilis or another sexually transmitted disease during pregnancy, talk to your gynecologist to make the necessary examinations.
- Tell your doctor if you have symptoms or signs of syphilis. Several diseases can have similar symptoms then need to perform a complete medical examination.
- Also call your doctor if you have had sexual contact with a patient with syphilis. Blood exams can detect substances produced by the bacterium responsible for syphilis.
EXAMINATION
The oldest test is the VDRL test. Other blood tests may include RPR and FTA-ABS.
Treatment of Syphilis
Antibiotics consist of an effective treatment to fight syphilis. The option lies with the antibiotic penicillin. The dosage and application (in a muscle or into a vein ) depend on the stage of syphilis. Also doxycycline can be used as an alternative treatment in patients who are allergic to penicillin.
Several hours after treatment of early stages of syphilis , it is possible to have a reaction called Jarisch - Herxheimer . Symptoms of this reaction include:
· Chills
· Fever
· Feeling of being sick
· Joint pain
· Muscle aches
· Headache
· Nausea
· Rash
These symptoms usually disappear after 24 hours.Conducting follow-up blood tests at 3, 6 , 12 and 24 months is required to ensure no further infection.
Sexual activity should be avoided until the second test show that the infection has been cured.
Syphilis is extremely contagious through sexual contact at the primary and secondary stages.Syphilis is an infection that should be reported. This means that physicians should report all cases of syphilis for public authorities, so that potentially infected sexual partners can be identified and treated.