4.What are the symptoms?
Syphilis has also been called “the great simulator”, because its symptoms often resemble that of other diseases. This may confuse patients and doctors alike and delay a proper diagnosis. As a rule, syphilis develops in several stages:

Primary stage: The first symptom of a syphilitic infection is a painless ulcer or sore (chancre) which appears within ten to ninety days at the point where the spirochete entered the body. Depending on the kind of sexual contact, this can be anywhere: on or near the sex organs, themouth, the rectum, or some other area. The ulcer may be large and obvious or small and hardly noticeable. If it should appear inside the vagina or rectum, it might easily go undetected. Unfortunately, sometimes there is no outward symptom at all. In any case, the ulcer heals itself after a while. An infected person may thus gain the false impression that he or she is cured. In reality, however, the disease has now entered its second stage.

Secondary stage: At the second stage of syphilis, the bacteria have entered the bloodstream and thus spread through the whole body. The result is a rash, which usually appears 3-6 weeks after infection. This rash may take almost any form and may cover a small or large surface of the skin, including the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. In some cases, no rash may appear at all. Both the rash and the primary ulcer are infectious. There may also be fever and other flu-like symptoms as well as a loss of patches of hair.

Latent stage: After the rash has disappeared, the disease “goes into hiding”, i.e. enters its third stage which may last from a few months to many years. There may be no symptoms at all for
quite a long time. However, this stage is the most dangerous of all because the disease may now attack various internal organs. The damage thus caused may also go undetected for quite a while.

Late stage: Suddenly and unexpectedly, severe symptoms may appear - heart disease, paralysis, numbness, gradual blindness, and dementia. The damage may be serious enough to cause death.

See also the following illustration ->