NURSING

1. SYPHILIS
DEFINITION
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection that can cause serious health
problems if it is not treated. Syphilis is divided into stages (primary,
secondary, latent, and tertiary). There are different signs and symptoms
associated with each stage.
Syphilis is caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum.
SYPHILIS SPREAD
 syphilis by direct contact with a syphilis sore during vaginal, anal,
or oral sex.
 sores on or around the penis, vagina, or anus, or in the rectum, on
the lips, or in the mouth.
 Syphilis can spread from an infected mother to her unborn baby.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Symptoms of syphilis in adults vary by stage:
Primary Stage
During the first (primary) stage of syphilis, notice a single sore or
multiple sores. The sore is the location where syphilis entered body.
Sores are usually (but not always) firm, round, and painless. Because the
sore is painless, it can easily go unnoticed. The sore usually lasts 3 to 6
weeks and heals regardless of whether or not receive treatment. Even
after the sore goes away, must still receive treatment. This will stop
infection from moving to the secondary stage.
Secondary Stage
During the secondary stage, skin rashes and/or mucous membrane
lesions. Mucous membrane lesions are sores in mouth, vagina, or anus.
This stage usually starts with a rash on one or more areas of body. The

2. rash can show up when primary sore is healing or several weeks after
the sore has healed. The rash can look like rough, red, or reddish brown
spots on the palms of hands and/or the bottoms of feet. Other
symptoms you may have can include fever, swollen lymph glands, sore
throat, patchy hair loss, headaches, weight loss, muscle aches, and
fatigue (feeling very tired).
Secondary rash from syphilis on torso.
Latent Stage
The latent stage of syphilis is a period of time when there are no
visible signs or symptoms of syphilis. If do not receive treatment,
can continue to have syphilis in body for years without any signs
or symptoms.
Tertiary Stage
Most people with untreated syphilis do not develop tertiary syphilis.
However, when it does happen it can affect many different organ
systems. These include the heart and blood vessels, and the brain and
nervous system. Tertiary syphilis is very serious and would occur 10–30
years after infection began. In tertiary syphilis, the disease damages
internal organs and can result in death.
Neurosyphilis and Ocular Syphilis
Without treatment, syphilis can spread to the brain and nervous system
(neurosyphilis) or to the eye (ocular syphilis). This can happen during
any of the stages described above.
Symptoms of neurosyphilis include
 severe headache;
 difficulty coordinating muscle movements;
 paralysis (not able to move certain parts of your body);

3.  numbness; and
 dementia (mental disorder).
Symptoms of ocular syphilis include changes in your vision and even
blindness.
Syphilis Complications
 Small bumps. Bumps called gummas can grow on skin, bones, or
organs. They can destroy the tissue around them.
 Nervous system problems. Syphilis can cause problems like
headaches, meningitis, brain damage, paralysis, or hearing
and vision loss.
 Cardiovascular problems. The disease can damage heart valves
or cause bulging blood vessels (aneurysms) or an
inflamed aorta (aortitis).
 HIV. Syphilis can increase chance of getting HIV.
Diagnosis
 a physical exam.
 Blood tests.
 Cerebrospinal fluid tests.
 Darkfield microscopy- Dark-field microscopy is the most specific
technique for diagnosing syphilis when an active chancre or
condyloma latum is present. its accuracy is limited by the
experience of the operator performing the test, the number of live
treponemes in the lesion, and the presence of non-pathologic
treponemes in oral or anal lesions.
 NONTREPONEMAL TESTS
Syphilitic infection leads to the production of non-specific
antibodies that react to cardiolipin. This reaction is the basis of
traditional nontreponemal tests such as the VDRL test and rapid
plasma reagin test.

4.  TREPONEMAL-SPECIFIC TESTS
Treponemal-specific tests detect antibodies to antigenic components of
T. pallidum. These tests are used primarily to confirm the diagnosis of
syphilis in patients with a reactive nontreponemal test. However, the
enzyme immunoassay (EIA) test for antitreponemal IgG also may be
used for screening. Treponemal-specific tests include the EIA for anti-
treponemal IgG, the T. pallidum hemagglutination (TPHA) test, the
microhemagglutination test with T. pallidum antigen, the fluorescent
treponemal antibody-absorption test (FTA-abs), and the enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay.
Treponemal tests have sensitivities and specificities equal to or higher
than those for nontreponemal tests.

5. TREATMENT FOR SYPHILIS

7. FOLLOW UP SYPHILIS