Syphilis is not only a sexually transmitted infection. Syphilis is an insidious and dangerous systemic disease that can lead to death. The causative agent of syphilis is pale treponema. Infection occurs most often through sexual intercourse, but it is possible to transmit the disease and by the household way through contaminated dishes, underwear, blood products and from mother to fetus in the womb. Through the mucous membranes or micro-traumas on the skin, the microbe enters the lymph nodes, and then into the bloodstream, affecting the entire body.
How is syphilis manifested in women?
The incubation period of the disease lasts on average from 3 to 6 weeks. Clinical manifestations are divided into 3 periods: primary, secondary and tertiary.
In the case of primary syphilis , a hard chancre appears on the spot from where the pathogen has entered the body, that is, a hard and painless ulcer of red color with even margins. This chancre can occur not only on the mucous membrane of the vagina, but also the hips, abdomen, mammary glands, lips and mouth, the skin of the woman's hands. The size of the formation varies from a small (1-3 mm) to a giant (2 cm). Signs of syphilis in women of the primary form include an increase in lymph nodes, located near the affected area. Then the patient can feel a slight malaise. In this case, discharge in women with syphilis becomes thick, can cause itching and burning, are pueridic and have an unpleasant odor, which is the product of the pathogenic microbe.
A few months later, a secondary stage of the disease, characterized by the appearance of a rash throughout the body in the form of red spots. In the future, rashes will pass and reappear repeatedly. The main symptoms of secondary syphilis in women include the increase in lymph nodes throughout the body (cervical, maxillary, inguinal), which is a consequence of the penetration of the pathogen into the lymph. There is a headache, insomnia, low-grade fever (up to 38 ° C). The secondary stage lasts from 3 to 5 years. To unpleasant and obvious manifestations of syphilis in women include hair loss, eyebrows and eyelashes. There are bodily excrescences in the anus and genital area.
With tertiary syphilis , which is extremely rare, the internal organs and systems are affected, the cartilage deforms and grows into tumors - gums. Patients often have a nose. The body is covered with tubercles - syphilis. Over time, the disease ends in a fatal outcome.
The danger of contracting syphilis for a woman is also in the possibility of intrauterine infection of the fetus. Quite often, pregnancy ends in miscarriage, and born children are born with pathologies incompatible with life.
Treatment of syphilis in women
Treatment of the disease is systemic. At the primary stage, all sexual partners of women in the last six months should also be examined. Treatment of patients with primary syphilis can be carried out on a stationary basis, at later stages hospitalization in the venereological dispensary is necessary.
With the timely detection of syphilis for two to three months, the following drugs are prescribed:
- antibiotics of the penicillin group (eg, benzylpenicillin), macrolides or cephalosporins, as well as iodine, bismaverol;
- vitamins (antioxidants and vitamin B);
- immunomodulators (for example, T-activin, thymalin);
- probiotics to protect the microflora of the digestive system from the action of antibiotics (Hilak, Linex, Bifidumbacterin);
- physiotherapy.
After the end of treatment the patient is under the supervision of a doctor throughout the year. Periodically, control tests are given.