Treatment and Prevention
Penicillin is used to treat all stages of syphilis. Despite over 60 years of use, the syphilis bacterium has not yet developed resistance to this original antibiotic. For primary syphilis, one injection (usually given as half a dose into each buttock) is enough to permanently cure this disease that once claimed so many lives.
Secondary and latent syphilis are treated the same way. But instead of one injection there are three injections over successive weeks. Most people with infectious syphilis, especially those in the secondary stage, suffer a reaction when they're first treated. The symptoms include a sudden fever with headache, sweating, and possibly a rash. This clears up in less than 24 hours.
Penicillin stops the infectivity within a day or two, and cures the disease in a week or two. A person should wait until the treatment is finished before engaging in sex. If the person is allergic to penicillin, another antibiotic can be substituted.
Tertiary syphilis is also treated with penicillin injections. Usually therapy is longer than just a few doses. Though this doesn't always kill all the hidden bacteria, it does generally stop further damage. There's no way to repair the organ damage that's already been done, however.
It is important to keep your follow-up appointments with your doctor. Even though you may have been treated with antibiotics, treatments have been known to fail. Your doctor will do some blood tests to make sure that the antibiotics have worked and that the bacteria have been cleared away.
The best way to avoid these complications is to avoid syphilis by practicing safe sex. Wearing a condom correctly is a good first step, but standard intercourse is not the only way to get syphilis. Any mouth-to-genital contact and sometimes even mouth-to-mouth contact is enough to transmit the disease. To minimize your risk, limit your number of sexual partners and be careful who they are - ask for a syphilis (and other STI) test. If you develop syphilis, your sexual partners should be notified, tested, and possibly treated.
Jeffrey Heit, MD, Internist with special emphasis on preventive health, fitness and nutrition, Philadelphia VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.