Syphilis risk factors
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
|
Syphilis Microchapters | |
|
Diagnosis | |
|
Treatment | |
|
Case Studies | |
|
Syphilis risk factors On the Web | |
|
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Syphilis risk factors | |
Overview
Risk factors of syphilis include unprotected sex, IV drug abuse and occupational risk for health care professionals.
NH
Syphilis is a systemic disease caused by treponema pallidum. On the basis of clinical findings, the disease has been divided into a series of overlapping stages, which are used to help guide treatment and follow-up. Persons who have syphilis might seek treatment for signs or symptoms of primary infection (i.e., ulcer or chancre at the infection site), secondary infection (i.e., manifestations that include, but are not limited to, skin rash, mucocutaneous lesions, and lymphadenopathy),neurologic infection (i.e., cranial nerve dysfunction, meningitis, stroke, acute or chronic altered mental status, loss of vibration sense, and auditory or ophthalmic abnormalities, which might occur through the natural history of untreated infection), or tertiary infection (i.e., cardiac or gummatous lesions). Latent infections (i.e., those lacking clinical manifestations) are detected by serologic testing. Latent syphilis acquired within the preceding year is referred to as early latent syphilis; all other cases of latent syphilis are either late latent syphilis or latent syphilis of unknown duration.
Treatment for both late latent syphilis and tertiary syphilis might require a longer duration of therapy because organisms might be dividing more slowly; however, the validity of this concept has not been assessed.
Risk factors
Risk factors include:
- Unprotected sex,
- Intravenous drug use,
- Health care professionals are predisposed to occupational risk.