Syphilis how does it spread

There is no vaccine for syphilis. To help prevent the spread of syphilis, follow these suggestions:. If tests show that you have syphilis, your sex partners — including current partners and any other partners you've had over the last three months to one year — need to be informed so that they can get tested.

If they're infected, they can then be treated. Official, confidential partner notification can help limit the spread of syphilis. The practice also steers those at risk toward counseling and the right treatment. And since you can contract syphilis more than once, partner notification reduces your risk of getting reinfected. People can be infected with syphilis and not know it. In light of the often deadly effects syphilis can have on unborn children, health officials recommend that all pregnant women be screened for the disease.

Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview Syphilis is a bacterial infection usually spread by sexual contact. Primary syphilis Open pop-up dialog box Close. Primary syphilis Primary syphilis causes painless sores chancres on the genitals, rectum, tongue or lips.

Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Syphilis — CDC fact sheet detailed. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed July 14, Hicks CB, et al. Syphilis: Epidemiology, pathophysiology, and clinical manifestations in HIV-uninfected patients.

Merck Manual Professional Version. Syphilis: Treatment and monitoring. Syphilis: Screening and diagnostic testing. Syphilis — CDC fact sheet. Accessed July 30, Jameson JL, et al. In: Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. The McGraw-Hill Companies; Syphillis adult. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; Sexually transmitted infections. These sores may appear on the genitals, where you might see them.

The sores can also develop inside the mouth, anus, or vagina. When you touch these sores during sex, the bacteria spread from your partner to you. Once the bacteria attach to your body, they start multiplying. This can happen quickly, within hours. A woman who is pregnant can give syphilis to her unborn baby: Syphilis can spread from mother to baby before or during birth.

Testing can tell whether a woman who is pregnant has syphilis. If a pregnant woman is not tested, she may be unaware that she has syphilis and pass the disease to her unborn child. Babies who are infected in the womb might die before they are born. Some might be born with serious birth defects. Most pregnant women in the United States get tested for syphilis during a prenatal checkup.

When the disease is caught early, syphilis can be treated before it affects the baby. Syphilis: Diagnosis and treatment. An infected baby may be born without signs or symptoms of disease.

However, if not treated immediately, the baby may develop serious problems within a few weeks. Untreated babies can have health problems such as cataracts, deafness, or seizures, and can die.

During the first primary stage of syphilis, you may notice a single sore or multiple sores. The sore is the location where syphilis entered your 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 you receive treatment. Even after the sore goes away, you must still receive treatment.

This will stop your infection from moving to the secondary stage. Mucous membrane lesions are sores in your mouth, vagina, or anus. This stage usually starts with a rash on one or more areas of your body. The rash can show up when your primary sore is healing or several weeks after the sore has healed.

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. The symptoms from this stage will go away whether or not you receive treatment.

Without the right treatment, your infection will move to the latent and possibly tertiary stages of syphilis. The latent stage of syphilis is a period of time when there are no visible signs or symptoms of syphilis. If you do not receive treatment, you can continue to have syphilis in your body for years without any signs or symptoms.

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 your infection began. In tertiary syphilis, the disease damages your internal organs and can result in death. 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. Most of the time, a blood test is used to test for syphilis.