Despite a wide range of contraceptives, in particular condoms, many women and men lose their sanity, neglecting their use during contacts with unverified partners. Relying on luck or just not thinking about the future, they are sure that they will not be infected with a disease from the venereological spectrum. But sexually transmitted diseases do not dry out, and there are more and more infected people every year. According to the duration and severity of the course, syphilis holds the lead for many years, the consequences of which are so palpable that, even getting rid of this ill-fated problem, it is hardly possible to forget about it forever.
Causative agent of syphilis
Treponema pallidum is the very dangerous microbe that causes this disease. Such a microorganism can be called active and strong only when it resides in the human body, however, the microbe cannot boast of stability beyond its limits. A sharp temperature drop and the lack of sufficient humidity are detrimental to the treponema.
Having settled in the human body, treponema poses the greatest threat to others at the first stage of its development and formation, the duration of which is on average about two years. Affecting most of the organs and systems of the body, the disease has a periodic recurrence of exacerbations and, without proper attention and treatment, becomes chronic.
Transmission routes
Mostly this infectious disease is transmitted during sexual contact, with microscopic lesions on the skin and mucous membranes playing a huge role. Syphilis, the consequences of which go beyond the field of venereology, is classified as a sexually transmitted disease. However, the chance of infection, albeit small, is present in other, more familiar circumstances (through the household, during blood transfusions, during dental procedures).
First changes in the body
During the first month after infection, the presence of syphilis is usually imperceptible. Its first manifestations can most often be observed on the skin of the patient. At the site of treponema penetration, an ulcer of red expressive color with a solid dense base is formed. The so-called chancre is the very ulceration that soon disappears without medical intervention and makes patients mistakenly think that all the negative consequences of the disease are behind.
As if lulling the alertness of the affected person, the microbe quickly moves throughout the body. While pale treponema multiplies, affecting all internal tissues and organs, the patient can only feel discomfort, in its manifestation resembling the development of a respiratory infection. There is a headache, fever, general weakness and fatigue, which at first glance seem to be very harmless catarrhal symptoms.
The missed start of treatment at this stage of the development of the disease contributes to the detection in the near future of a rash, sores on the mucous membranes, feet and hands.
Diagnosis of syphilis. Rw
Having the slightest suspicion of a potential infection, doctors prescribe a simple and reliable method that allows you to probably diagnose the presence of the disease. This is a Wasserman reaction. Its use for the detection of infection has become widespread in clinical trials.
But do not forget that a negative reaction to the presence of the disease after a short time after infection is likely to be imaginary. In this case, greater accuracy in the analyzes can be achieved by taking a scraping from the surface of the chancre in order to detect a pale spirochete.
A positive result on RW is characteristic of the second half of the initial stage of the disease, which is why a single passage of the RW test does not guarantee one hundred percent reliability of the tests and needs to be repeated.
The healing chancre is replaced by the appearance of papules - pink spots on the skin. This most common symptom of the secondary stage of syphilis painlessly occurs a month after the passage of ulcers. Papules are often mistaken for an allergic reaction due to the absence of any unpleasant sensations (itching, burning, inflammation of the skin).
In the diagnosis, it is Wassermann’s reaction to syphilis that minimizes the huge risk. The consequences of probable irreversible complications can be eliminated by timely diagnosis.
The main consequences of the initial stage of syphilis in men
Often, additional bacterial lesions join the main complications of the course of the disease. In most cases, in men they occur:
- swelling of tissues and their inflammation;
- phimosis (narrowing of the foreskin of the penis);
- paraphimosis (infringement of the head, causing necrosis);
- gangrene of male genitalia.
Signs of the secondary stage of the disease, which can lead to serious health deterioration, include pustular rashes. Left without proper attention, they can be accompanied by headaches, fever, general weakness and fatigue. Also, men can detect intense baldness, loss of voice.
These complications are more common in men who lead an immoral lifestyle, abuse alcohol and do not take any measures to overcome syphilis. What consequences await women is also worth understanding.
The consequences of syphilis in women
The first complications of the disease appear on the mucous membranes of the female genital organs. The vagina, cervix and external labia are covered with chancre. Adapted in the new body, treponema continues to destroy it, affecting the blood vessels and lymph nodes.
If you seek qualified medical help in time, the consequences of treated syphilis in women will still be quite serious. The disease can be dangerous not only for the carrier. Even after a full course of treatment, the risk of the birth of a sick baby in a mother who has had a disease cannot be ruled out. But nevertheless, this is incomparable with the danger and harm that a mother with syphilis does to the fetus. About a quarter of such pregnancies end with natural termination at 12-16 weeks. Still as many sick babies die without having lived even three days.
As a result of these facts, every pregnant woman is required to take tests for syphilis, the consequences of which can put two lives at risk.
Irreparable tertiary complications
A feature of this stage of the disease is the inevitability of changes leading to the death of the body, which include neurosyphilis and visceral syphilis.
Syphilitic meningitis (neurosyphilis) is a stage:
- death of brain cells;
- a significant decrease in intellectual abilities;
- memory impairment;
- paralysis of the limbs;
- atrophy of the optic nerve.
With visceral syphilis, the aorta expands, heart failure develops, which leads to the inflammatory process of the arteries. The condition of the lungs, the functioning of the kidneys and the heart valve are also deteriorating.
Features of treatment today
The truth, which claims that it is easier to overcome any disease at the very beginning, also describes the features of the treatment of syphilis. Currently, the approach to the recovery technique is going through a path of improvement aimed at early recognition of the problem. The consequences of treating syphilis in this case should be as harmless to the patient as possible.
As before, the fundamental component of the treatment plan has always been medications containing prolonged-release penicillin. These are durant preparations containing benzathine benzylpenicillins.
Early Treatment Methods
Modern durant drugs do not need special recommendations for use. However, with a thorough thorough examination of the patient and preliminary clarification of the stage of the disease, the use of such drugs has a positive effect on the consequences after syphilis . Durant medications are injected no more than once a week and are prescribed in case of manifestation of fresh syphilis or a hidden second stage of the disease. The maximum duration of the course is up to 3 injections. The effectiveness of such drugs has been proven when taken prophylactically. A single dose of the drug is enough to minimize the risk of infection with recent contact with the patient.
At the same time, it is almost impossible to cure the recurrent manifestation of the disease, according to most doctors, using similar forms of penicillin, since they do not give a full guarantee in terms of removing the infection from the fluid of the spinal cord.
The effectiveness of the treatment course at later stages
The consequences of syphilis, already found in the second stage, are much more difficult to overcome. Complications caused by infection develop not only in the internal organs of a person. The central nervous system is at risk. Often, for patients with such a severe form of the disease, the stationary regimen and complex combination therapy consisting of water-soluble penicillin, antibiotics of tetracycline groups, macrolides, cephalosporins, and bismuth-containing preparations are most acceptable. The latter suppress the active life of the pathogen and have an anti-inflammatory effect. At the same time, their “shock” force leaves its mark, causing endocrine disorders, significantly reducing immunity and affecting the patient’s chromosome series. Throughout life, the presence of a trace positive reaction is likely to affect the results of control tests.
Therefore, it is mandatory in the treatment regimen to prescribe immunomodulating agents that support the protective functions of the body. Nevertheless, it will not be possible to completely eliminate the consequences after the treatment of syphilis, which acts extremely destructively on the state of health.