What happens if syphilis is not treated

During the latent stage , there are no signs or symptoms. Tertiary syphilis is associated with severe medical problems. A doctor can usually diagnose tertiary syphilis with the help of multiple tests. It can affect the heart, brain, and other organs of the body. If you are sexually active, you can do the following things to lower your chances of getting syphilis:.

Any sexually active person can get syphilis through unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Have an honest and open talk with your health care provider and ask whether you should be tested for syphilis or other STDs. If you are pregnant and have syphilis, you can give the infection to your unborn baby. Having syphilis can lead to a low birth weight baby. It can also make it more likely you will deliver your baby too early or stillborn a baby born dead. To protect your baby, you should be tested for syphilis at least once during your pregnancy.

Receive immediate treatment if you test positive. An infected baby may be born without signs or symptoms of disease. However, if not treated immediately, the baby may develop serious problems within a few weeks. Untreated babies can have health problems such as cataracts, deafness, or seizures, and can die. During the first primary stage of syphilis, you may notice a single sore or multiple sores.

The sore is the location where syphilis entered your body. Sores are usually but not always firm, round, and painless. Because the sore is painless, it can easily go unnoticed. The sore usually lasts 3 to 6 weeks and heals regardless of whether or not you receive treatment. Nervous system complications can occur is the early stages of infection in people with HIV—not just the later stages. It can decrease the CD4 count therefore causing damage to the immune system as well as increase the viral load of HIV-positive people.

This is especially of concern for people with a low CD4 count. There have also been cases of treatment failure in patients with secondary syphilis, all of whom were HIV-positive. People with HIV can also progress to neurosyphilis infection of the brain despite standard treatment. If you have syphilis early or latent careful monitoring is advised, so that any abnormality is treated immediately.

The diagnostic tests for syphilis may fail more frequently producing false positives and negatives in people with highly depleted immune systems. However, these failures are still believed to occur only rarely. What happens in a STI test? Syphilis What is it? How do you get it? Official, confidential partner notification can help limit the spread of syphilis.

The practice also steers those at risk toward counseling and the right treatment. And since you can contract syphilis more than once, partner notification reduces your risk of getting reinfected. People can be infected with syphilis and not know it. In light of the often deadly effects syphilis can have on unborn children, health officials recommend that all pregnant women be screened for the disease.

Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview Syphilis is a bacterial infection usually spread by sexual contact. Primary syphilis Open pop-up dialog box Close. Primary syphilis Primary syphilis causes painless sores chancres on the genitals, rectum, tongue or lips.

Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Syphilis — CDC fact sheet detailed. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed July 14, Hicks CB, et al. Syphilis: Epidemiology, pathophysiology, and clinical manifestations in HIV-uninfected patients. Merck Manual Professional Version. Syphilis: Treatment and monitoring. Syphilis: Screening and diagnostic testing.

Syphilis — CDC fact sheet. Accessed July 30, Jameson JL, et al. Other symptoms of secondary syphilis include fever, swollen lymph glands, sore throat, patchy hair loss, headaches, weight loss, muscle aches, and fatigue. The symptoms of secondary syphilis will go away with or without treatment. Without appropriate treatment, the infection will progress to the latent and possibly late stages of disease.

The third stage of syphilis can affect various organs, especially the brain and the heart. This stage occurs in about one-third of untreated people. Severe brain or heart complications may occur during this stage. The test for Syphilis is also an antibody detection test, which looks for evidence of antibodies which are produced in response to Treponema Pallidum - the bacterium that causes syphilis.

Syphilis is easily treated with penicillin injections or tablets - the length of treatment will depend on the stage of the infection. Following treatment, it is recommended that both parties are tested again before commencing any new sexual relationship, as Syphilis is highly contagious and reinfection is common.