The Most Serious Risk for Low-birth-weight Babies Is That They May

مارس 11, 2022 إرسال تعليق

What is syphilis?

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) that can cause serious health problems without treatment. Infection develops in stages (primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary). Each phase tin have dissimilar signs and symptoms.

How is syphilis spread?

Yous can get syphilis by direct contact with a syphilis sore during vaginal, anal, or oral sexual practice.

Syphilis can spread from a mother with syphilis to her unborn baby.

Yous cannot get syphilis through casual contact with objects, such as:

toilet seats
doorknobs
swimming pools
hot tubs
bathtubs
sharing vesture, or eating utensils

How can I reduce my risk of getting syphilis?

The merely way to completely avoid STDs is to not have vaginal, anal, or oral sex.

If you are sexually agile, you can do the following things to lower your chances of getting syphilis:

Being in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and does non have syphilis.
Using condoms the correct style every fourth dimension you have sex.

Condoms forbid the spread of syphilis by preventing contact with a sore. Sometimes sores occur in areas non covered past a condom. Contact with these sores can all the same transmit syphilis.

Am I at risk for syphilis?

Sexually agile people can get syphilis through vaginal, anal, or oral sex without a condom with a partner who has syphilis. If you are sexually active, have an honest and open up talk with your healthcare provider. Ask them if you should go tested for syphilis or other STDs.

You should get tested regularly for syphilis if you are sexually activeand

are a gay or bisexual human being;
take HIV;
are taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention; or
have partner(s) who have tested positive for syphilis.

All pregnant people should receive syphilis testing at their first prenatal visit. Some significant people demand to receive syphilis testing again during the tertiary trimester at 28 weeks and at delivery.

I'thousand pregnant. How does syphilis affect my baby?

If you are significant and have syphilis, you lot can give the infection to your unborn infant. Having syphilis can lead to a depression-nativity-weight-baby. It tin can make information technology more likely you will deliver your baby too early or stillborn (a babe born dead). To protect your baby,you should receive syphilis testing at least once during your pregnancy. Receive treatment correct away if you lot test positive.

At birth, a babe with a syphilis infection may not have signs or symptoms of disease. Yet, if the baby does not receive treatment correct away, the baby may develop serious problems within a few weeks. These babies can have health problems, such as cataracts, deafness, or seizures, and can die.

What are the signs and symptoms of syphilis?

There are 4 stages of syphilis (chief, secondary, latent, and tertiary). Each stage has different signs and symptoms.

Principal Stage

During the start (primary) stage of syphilis, yous may discover a single sore or multiple sores. The sore is the location where syphilis entered your body. These sores ordinarily occur in, on, or effectually the

penis;
vagina;
anus;
rectum; and
lips or in the mouth.

Sores are ordinarily (just non ever) firm, circular, and painless. Because the sore is painless, you may not find it. The sore commonly lasts 3 to 6 weeks and heals regardless of whether yous receive treatment. Even subsequently the sore goes abroad, y'all must even so receive treatment. This will stop your infection from moving to the secondary phase.

Secondary Phase

During the secondary stage, y'all may take pare rashes and/or sores in your rima oris, vagina, or anus. This phase normally starts with a rash on one or more areas of your body. The rash can bear witness up when your main sore is healing or several weeks later the sore has healed. The rash tin can be on the palms of your hands and/or the bottoms of your feet and look

crude;
scarlet; or
reddish-brown.

The rash unremarkably won't itch, and it is sometimes and so faint that you won't notice it. Other symptoms may include:

fever;
swollen lymph glands;
sore pharynx;
patchy hair loss;
headaches;
weight loss;
muscle aches; and
fatigue (feeling very tired).

The symptoms from this stage volition go away whether you lot receive handling. Without the right treatment, your infection will motility to the latent and mayhap tertiary stages of syphilis.

Latent Stage

The latent stage of syphilis is a period when there are no visible signs or symptoms. Without treatment, you can continue to have syphilis in your body for years.

3rd Phase

Most people with untreated syphilis practice non develop tertiary syphilis. However, when it does happen, information technology can bear on many different organ systems. These include the heart and blood vessels, and the encephalon and nervous system. Tertiary syphilis is very serious and would occur 10–30 years afterward your infection began. In tertiary syphilis, the disease amercement your internal organs and can result in death. A healthcare provider tin ordinarily diagnose 3rd syphilis with the help of multiple tests.

Neurosyphilis, Ocular Syphilis, and Otosyphilis

Without treatment, syphilis tin can spread to the encephalon and nervous system (neurosyphilis), the centre (ocular syphilis), or the ear (otosyphilis). This tin happen during any of the stages described higher up.

Signs and symptoms of neurosyphilis tin include:

severe headache;
musculus weakness and/or trouble with muscle movements; and
changes to your mental state (trouble focusing, defoliation, personality alter) and/or dementia (problems with retentiveness, thinking, and/or conclusion making).

Signs and symptoms of ocular syphilis can include:

centre pain and/or redness; and
changes in your vision or fifty-fifty blindness.

Signs and symptoms of otosyphilis may include:

hearing loss;
ringing, buzzing, roaring, or hissing in the ears ("tinnitus"); and
dizziness or vertigo (feeling like y'all or your surround are moving or spinning).

How will I or my healthcare providers know if I have syphilis?

Nearly of the time, healthcare providers volition utilize a blood examination to test for syphilis. Some volition diagnose syphilis by testing fluid from a syphilis sore.

Is there a cure for syphilis?

Yes, syphilis is curable with the right antibiotics from your healthcare provider. Yet, treatment might not undo any impairment the infection can crusade.

Tin can I get syphilis again, later receiving treatment?

Having syphilis one time does not protect you from getting information technology again. Even after successful treatment, you can get syphilis once more. Only laboratory tests can confirm whether you lot accept syphilis. Follow-upwards testing past your healthcare provider is necessary to brand sure your treatment was successful.

Information technology may not be obvious that a sex partner has syphilis. Syphilis sores in the vagina, anus, oral fissure, or under the foreskin of the penis, tin can be hard to come across. Y'all may get syphilis once again, if your sexual practice partner(s) does not receive testing and handling.