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Definition: syphilis from Philip's Encyclopedia

Sexually transmitted disease caused by the spiral-shaped bacterium (spirochete) Treponema pallidum. Untreated, it runs its course in three stages. The first symptom is often a hard, painless sore on the genitals, appearing usually within a month of infection. Months later, the second stage features a skin rash and fever. The third stage, often many years later, brings the formation of growths and serious involvement of the heart, brain and spinal cord, leading eventually to blindness, insanity and death. The disease is treated with antibiotics.

syphilis

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(sĭf'Әlĭs), contagious sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum (described by Fritz Schaudinn and Erich Hoffmann in 1905). Syphilis was not widely recognized until an epidemic in Europe at the end of the 15th cent. Some medical historians have proposed that syphilis first appeared in Spain among sailors who had returned from the New World in 1493, while others have concluded from archaeological evidence that it probably originated in the Old World but may have been confused with leprosy. A study (pub. 2008) that examined the evolutionary relationships among Treponema bacteria supported the idea that the spirochete originated in the New World, with some researchers suggesting it may have mutated into a sexually transmitted disease in Europe. The most prevalent mode of transmission is by sexual contact; infection by other means is possible, but its occurrence depends upon an open wound or lesion to permit invasion of the organisms. A person with syphilitic…
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Full text Article Syphilis

From Encyclopedia of Women's Health
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum . Syphilis is a potentially progressive disease that if untreated may cause debilitating disease of the entire body. Syphilis currently is of particular concern because it is believed to increase the transmission…
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Full text Article Syphilis

From Gale Encyclopedia of Public Health
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum . The infection is acquired through direct—usually sexual—contact with a syphilis sore. It also can be transmitted from a mother to her child either before or during birth. Untreated syphilis is…
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Full text Article Syphilis

From Human Diseases and Conditions
CDC/Susan Lindsley. Syphilis patient with...
Syphilis (SIH-fih-lis) is a sexually transmitted disease that can lead to serious lifelong physical problems, including blindness and paralysis 3885 , if left untreated . Syphilis is a disease that is caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum (treh-puh-NEE-muh PAL-ih-dum). The disease develops in…
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Full text Article Syphilis

From Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health
A 3D image of Clindamycin-resistant Group-B...
Syphilis is an infectious systemic disease that may be either congenital, acquired through sexual contact, transmitted through contaminated blood products, or acquired by exposure to contaminated needles. Syphilis has both acute and chronic forms that produce a wide variety of symptoms affecting…
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Full text Article Syphilis

From Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine
Balanitis (inflammation of the penis) caused by...
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection disease (STI) caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum . The infection is acquired through direct—usually sexual—contact with a syphilis sore. It also can be transmitted from a mother to her child either before or during birth. Untreated…
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Full text Article Syphilis

From Harvard Medical School Health Topics A-Z
What Is It? Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by a type of bacteria called Treponema pallidum. In its earliest stage, syphilis produces an open sore (ulcer) that leaks fluid filled with syphilis bacteria. Syphilis can be transmitted by contact with this ulcer or other…
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Full text Article syphilis

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(sĭf'Әlĭs), contagious sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum (described by Fritz Schaudinn and Erich Hoffmann in 1905). Syphilis was not widely recognized until an epidemic in Europe at the end of the 15th cent. Some medical historians have proposed that syphilis…
| 546 words
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Full text Article Syphilis

From New Harvard Guide to Women's Health, The
For several decades it looked as though syphilis—a potentially life-threatening sexually transmitted disease—was no longer the scourge of humanity it had been for centuries. With the advent of penicillin, it became possible to cure syphilis in the early stages, which not only reduced the number of…
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Full text Article syphilis

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
An infectious disease caused by a spirochete (Treponema pallidum),usually transmitted sexually or in utero, marked initially by local formation of chancres and progressing if untreated to bacteremia and widespread organ damage, such as skin ulcerations and tabes dorsalis. [New Latin, from Syphilis, …
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Full text Article syphilis

From Dictionary of Microbiology & Molecular Biology
A chronic human disease caused by Treponema pallidum . Infection generally occurs by direct contact with lesions of primary or secondary syphilis (see T. pallidum under TREPONEMA ; see also VENEREAL DISEASE ); T. pallidum can apparently penetrate undamaged mucous membranes, and is rapidly…
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