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Syphilis is an STI caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum.

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Every person who is sexually active is at risk for contracting syphilis. Gay men and people previously diagnosed with HIV are more susceptible to this infection and should be tested often.

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The only ways to prevent infection are to abstain from oral, anal or vaginal sex or to use a condom when engaged in sexual activities.

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Syphilis is spread when a person has a syphilitic sore, or chancre, and makes skin-to-skin contact with someone else. Chancres can be located on the penis, vagina, anus, rectum, and lips or mouth. Syphilis can be spread through anal, oral, or vaginal sex and can also pass from mother to unborn child during pregnancy.

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Luckily, there is a cure for syphilis. This STI can be cured by the antibiotic Benzathine penicillin G. If the disease is detected before the tertiary stage, it can be cured with only one intramuscular injection. However, if the infection has reached the tertiary stage, the recommended dose is one injection every week for three weeks.

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Symptoms typically appear around 21 days after infection, but can present themselves as early as 10 days or as late as 90 days after infection.

The four stages of syphilis are primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary. Each stage of this STI has different symptoms. Symptoms include sores at the site where the person was infected, rashes, skin tumors, and nervous system disorders. These symptoms can mimic other illnesses and the only way to know if you have syphilis is to get tested.

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When a pregnant mother has syphilis, it can be passed on to her unborn child (congential syphilis). Infant death results in 40% of pregnant mothers who have syphilis but were not treated. Syphilis infection in infants can result in low birth weight, brain and nerve problems, anemia, and even death.

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Receiving treatment for this infection is critical to the overall health of the infected person. Without treatment syphilis can damage the cardiovascular and nervous systems as well as bones and joints. In the tertiary stage, syphilis can even cause death.

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Syphilis is prevalent in the United States and over the last twenty years the number of reported cases have continued to rise annually.

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Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. Syphilis can be transmitted through anal, oral, or vaginal sex. Transmission is prevented through abstinence or safe sex. The effect on newborns who contracted the infection from their mother can cause low birth weight, brain damage, and even death. Syphilis is cured with Benzathine penicillin G. The long-term effects of this infection can cause damage to the cardiovascular and neurological systems and even death.