Syphilis : A Contagious Disease

CS is acquired by vertical transmission of the bacterium Treponema pallidum from infected mother to unborn fetus while it is still in the uterus. If the mother delivers with active genital lesions, the newborn may also contract CS from direct contact with mucus membranes. “The overall risk of transplacental infection of the fetus is about 60 to 80%, and the likelihood is increased during the second half of the pregnancy”(Caserta, 2013). Mothers with untreated syphilis can transmit the bacterium at any stage (primary, secondary, latent,

STD’s have been around for a long time, dating back to 1550 B.C. During this time the first recorded form of an STD was found. They were reported to be found in Europe. Gonorrhea and Syphilis are recorded to be the two most common diseases in Europe. Some men on Christopher Columbus’s voyage brought back syphilis with them. Syphilis causes progressive destruction of the brain and spinal cord, leading to mental dysfunction and hallucinations, speech problems and general paresis (G. Burg). The common knowledge of STD’s have been around but have not been able to be treated up until around the late 1700s.

I thought someone could get syphilis by contacting a surface that an infected person touched. Syphilis is almost always transmitted by unprotected vaginal, oral, anal sexual activity, or from mother to newborn during delivery. It is usually transmitted when open lesions on an infected person come into contact with the mucous membranes or skin abrasions of the partner’s body during sexual activity. It may also be contracted by touching an infectious chancre. In the primary stage of syphilis, a hard, round, ulcer-like lesion appears at the site of infection two to four weeks after contact. A few months later, the secondary stage begins. A skin rash develops that darken after a while and burst, oozing a discharge. The spirochetes continue to multiply and burro into the circulatory system, central nervous system, and bones and may lie dormant for decades. Lastly, in the tertiary stage, large ulcers may form on the skin, liver, digestive organs, muscle tissue, lungs, or other organs which can be

Syphilis is a harsh sexually transmitted disease. It can be contracted through intercourse and orally with any age or gender. The infection is a spiral shaped bacteria that grows on the mucus of the genitals or mouth. Syphilis has three stages, the first stage is the presence of painless ulcers, also know as chancre. The open sore can develop anytime within ten to ninety days after you have contracted it, which at this time is very contagious. The next stage is where the symptoms really start to show,

There are two theories to its nature: that it was brought over through the Columbian Exchange, and that it was present in the Americas before Columbus’ first voyage (123). Some theories state that it existed in the Old World in a mild form, then with the arrival of the Europeans, it mutated into the killer the Native Americans knew it as (126). It seems more likely that the disease existed in the Old World prior to 1493, since there are no records of syphilis on the voyage (137). Another theory presents the idea that syphilis is worldwide, but has different names and forms in different regions (142). Whatever the case, the disease is transmitted sexually, and the Europeans knew it to be an epidemic when the allegiance to marital fidelity crumbled in a society (148). Popular remedies for syphilis were mercury and guaiacum (153). A regular intake of mercury was known to cure syphilis, but the metal itself killed the patient (153). The New World provided another possible cure in the form of guaiacum wood, which made the patient sweat profusely in hopes to literally “sweat” the disease out of their system (152). Syphilis ruthlessly killed thousands of Native Americans during its run, but by the 17th century, it became considered a dangerous, but bearable infection

The study took place in Macon County, Alabama where a large number of African Americans were infected with syphilis. Although the study was aimed at discovering whether blacks react to syphilis in the same way as whites, and determine how long a human being can live with untreated syphilis. Due to the African Americans having lack of education, they suffered tremendously at the hands of doctors from the US Public Health Service. When the study was initiated there were no proven treatments for the disease. So the researchers told African American patients they were being treated for “bad blood.” The treatments for syphilis in the early 1930’s offered more potential harm than benefit for the patient so little harm was done by not treating the men in the study.

Syphilis is a venereal disease that can be contacted and spread by means of sexual intercourse. An infected pregnant mother can also pass the disease to the unborn child during pregnancy. The disease is caused by a corkscrew-shaped bacterium called a spirochete, Treponema pallidum. The bacteria cause sores or ulcers to appear on the skin of the penis, vagina, and mouth. In some occasions, the sore can appear in the rectum, on the tongue, lips, or breast.

"Thirty years ago today, the Washington Evening Star newspaper ran this headline on its front page: "Syphilis Patients Died Untreated."

Within a fourteen-year period, two studies in different parts of the world emerged that hoped to study the disease of syphilis. Here in the United States, Tuskegee, Alabama emerged as the starting point of one of these studies, in which Public Health Services’ physicians and officers studied the deadly effects of Syphilis on African American Males. When penicillin emerged in 1943 as the main treatment, this study denied their African American test subjects the opportunity to be treated, but rather continued their study, hoping to advance the current knowledge on the effects that syphilis has on a person if it goes untreated. Farther south, within the country of Guatemala, Public Health Services hoped again to study syphilis, but with a different focus. Rather than study the effects of untreated syphilis, Public Health Services worked to study various other chemicals that could be used to prevent and contain the spread syphilis, in addition studying certain doses of penicillin and their ability to treat the disease. To do this, Public Health officials and physicians purposefully infected various prisoners, people in mental hospitals, soldiers, and prostitutes. When looking at both of these studies, various ethical issues and dilemmas are present. By using two popular ethical schools of thought: utilitarianism and Kantianism, the ethical justification or justification of these studies will be explored. When discussing both the Guatemala and Tuskegee Syphilis studies,

Gonorrhea      We chose the bacterial disease gonorrhea. We were not able to find when the disease was discovered or who discovered it.      Gonorrhea is a bacterial disease that is an infection caused by gonoccocus bacteria. This bacteria is round shaped and can live only in dark, warm, moist places. These places would include; inside your body, cervix, penis, throat, and rectum.

I feel that the U.S. Department of Public Health had a genuine interest in studying the differences of Syphilis between Black and

Two main hypotheses exist as to the origin of the disease. The first proposes that Syphilis had existed in Europe and Asia for years, arguing that the diseases had either laid dormant for years, went unnoticed, or only recently had mutated into a virulent strain. This is known as the "Pre-Columbian" theory (Kent ME, Romanelli F 2008).

it must be found not only within couple individuals but within a community, population and region itself. He thought that’s what happened in Europe in the New World when people were socially and sexually intimate with each other and it was so easy to contract the disease. Armelagos didn’t find enough evidence from the Old World but the isolated cases whereas New World was a treasury for the disease cases. Charlotte Roberts explains it by the era and the harshness of conditions of that time “people died at a young age due to other diseases such as Black death and chickenpox without even realizing they were infected with syphilis”.

The sexually transmitted disease, syphilis, can be passed from person to person in two ways. One way is having direct contact with a syphilis sore during sexual intercourse. The other way syphilis is spread, is from an infected mother to her baby during pregnancy. Syphilis cannot be spread from indirect contact. An example of this is using the same toilet seat an infected person did.

Syphilis is a bacterial STD caused by the Treponema pallidum bacteria. Syphilis is transmitted “through direct contact with a syphilis sore (“STD Facts-Syphilis” 2010).” The contagious sores can be chancre sores, which occur in the