4. What are the symptoms?
The first symptoms of the disease are one or more red, painless sores or ulcers which may appear on the sex organs any time between one week and three months after the infection. Such an ulcer is small and therefore may hardly be noticed. Anyway, after two weeks it usually disappears by itself. However, as the infection progresses, it affects the lymph nodes on one or both sides of the groin. They become red and tender, swell and finally rupture, releasing a milky secretion. They may also seem to heal by themselves, but often start the cycle over again. If the infection occurred during oral intercourse, it can affect the oral cavity, the throat and the wind pipe. An infection through anal intercourse will affect the lymph nodes around the rectum, and the patient may experience pain when defecating, a bloody discharge, diarrhea and lower abdominal pain.

5. How is it diagnosed?
In some cases a doctor can arrive at a diagnosis by simply looking at the symptoms. Most often, however, it is necessary to draw blood or to take samples from the infected areas and to perform various tests in the laboratory.