Syphilis

Symptoms:

Untreated syphilis passes through three stages: primary, secondary, and latent or tertiary.

Primary symptoms:

• painless sores on genitals, rectum, mouth, or fingers
• enlarged lymph nodes in the area containing the sores
• sore heals in 4 to 8 weeks

Secondary symptoms:

• skin rash, diffuse including palms and soles
• extensive lymph node enlargement
• mucous patches (painless silvery ulcerations of mucous membranes)
• headache
• aches and pains in bones
• loss of appetite
• fever
• fatigue
• secondary stage persisting for a year

Latent symptoms (tertiary stage):

• infiltrative tumors of skin, bones, or liver
• cardiovascular syphilis, which affects the aorta causing aneurysms or valve disease
  • central nervous system disorders

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:

• vaginal bleeding between periods
• swallowing difficulty
• nosebleed - symptom
• mouth sores
• hearing loss
• groin lump
• genital lesions (female)
• limited range of motion

Signs and tests:

• VDRL
• FTA-ABS fluorescent treponemal antibody test
• dark field examination of primary lesion

This disease may also alter the results of the following tests:

• serology
• RPR
• FTA-ABS
• febrile/cold agglutinins
• ESR
• Donath-Landsteiner test