Secondary Syphilitic Lesions

Abstract

An important theme that emerges from all early historical accounts is that in addition to the decreased virulence of Treponema pallidum, the incidence of secondary syphilis has decreased drastically over the past three centuries. Even in the early 20th century, most syphilologists were of the opinion that the disease had undergone changes in its manifestations and that they were dealing with an attenuated form of the spirochete. Such opinions were based primarily on the observations that violent cutaneous reactions and fatalities associated with the secondary stage had become extremely rare. The rate of primary and secondary syphilis in the United States increased in 2002 for the second consecutive year. After a decade-long decline that led to an all-time low in 2000, the recent trend is attributable, to a large extent, by a increase in reported syphilis cases among men, particularly homosexual and bisexual men having sex with men. The present review addresses the clinical and diagnostic criteria for the recognition of secondary syphilis, the clinical course and manifestations of the disease if allowed to proceed past the primary stage of disease in untreated individuals, and the treatment for this stage of the disease

Syphilis: The Renaissance of an Old Disease with Oral Implications

“…Due to systemic hematogenous dissemination renal, ophthalmologic, hepatic, bone and joint diseases can be seen [2,3,32,33]. During secondary syphilis CNS involvement can be seen under the form of meningitis (which usually occurs within the first 6 months of infection or during the secondary rash) or cranial nerve involvement.…”

“…can be confused with a variety of skin diseases. Eczema, psoriasis, drug eruption, pityriasis, lichen planus and a syndrome with skin rash plus reactive arthritis, urethritis and conjunctivitis can be mimicked by syphilis [32,34,35]. In HIV infection things can be even more complicated considering that secondary syphilis may show totally unexpected features [3,6].…”

TpF1 fromTreponema pallidumActivates Inflammasome and Promotes the Development of Regulatory T Cells

“…Despite numerous studies aimed at identifying and characterizing treponemal proteins, the exact role of adhesins, secreted enzymes, and other factors, including host factors such as cytokines, in the pathogenesis of syphilis remains unclear (3). During early infection, T. pallidum is able to elicit a vigorous inflammation and the ensuing adaptive immune response.…”

A New Mathematical Model of Syphilis

“…Relapse of secondary syphilis [1,18] usually appears one year after primary infection. Approximately one-fourth of syphilis infections develop into secondary relapse if not treated.…”

“…Following the method of Dushoff et al [7], a backward bifurcation occurs for a compartmental model as the basic reproduction number equals to 1 We can see that a necessary and sufficient condition for the model (2.1) to have a backward…”