SYPHILIS: ETIOLOGY, EPIDEMIOLOGY, CLASSIFICATION, DIAGNOSIS, AND STANDARD THERAPIES.NARRATIVE REVIEW

Syphilis is a chronic venereal infectious disease and Treponema pallidum is the causative micro-organism.
The transmission is by sexual contact, via transfusion of blood product, from the mother to fetus, and through the contact of infectious lesions with a break in the skin. Different periods of activity and latency, systemic dissemination, and sever complications in inadequately treated patients or patients that remain without treatment may occurs. In untreated patients, the progression through primary, secondary, latent, to tertiary stages can occur. Different arrays of tests are available for syphilis diagnosis, but can always be confirmed serologically. Since 1943 syphilis has been treated with penicillin, but syphilis still remains the most important health problem in the developing and developed areas. The present review gives an overview of syphilis, its epidemiological data, various clinical manifestations, different diagnostic methods and treatment approaches for every clinical type.