What is syphilis? The aim of this essay is to find out if syphilis affects a particular gender or age group, and if so, how it is transmitted? Many people are unaware of this disease as the occurrence reduced considerably after penicillin became available. However, this disease is not completely extinct. “The past decade has seen a rise in new cases of the almost forgotten historic disease syphilis, particularly in certain risk groups” (Wohrl and Geusau, 2007). Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that is caused by a bacterium Treponema palladium. When syphilis is passed on sexually it is called venereal syphilis (Wohrl and Geusau, 2007). This disease can also be transmitted to an unborn child via the mother; this is called congenital syphilis (Wohrl and Geusau, 2007).
Question 1
What are the three stages of syphilis? What is the progression of syphilis with every stage? What are the symptoms?
Dependant variable: progression of syphilis
Independent variable: stages of syphilis
It is important to know how syphilis is transmitted from one person to the other and how the dangers increase with every stage.
There are three stages in syphilis:
Primary stage- This is the first stage of syphilis where painful and infectious ulcers, also known as chancres, usually appear three weeks after sexual contact with a person who is infected. Genital chancre is referred to as the kissing lesions on the vagina of a female. This lesion is very infectious (Diaz, 2010). This usually occurs in areas where the Treponema pallidium enters the body. As the progression of syphilis is slow, the chances that these ulcers are noticed early are very low. Chancres are usually found on the vulva or cervix of a woman. They can also be found on the p...
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(Diaz, 2010)
This disease increases with risks at every stage. It is advisable to seek immediate treatment if something unusual or suspicious is noticed on an individual.
Works Cited
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In 1932 the United States Public Health Services was responsible for monitoring, identifying, ways to treat sexually transmitted diseases in all US citizens. Public health service was sponsored by Rosenwald Fund; identified Macon County, Alabama had the highest rate of male population infected with the Syphilis. So the Tuskegee Institute was approached to study the effects of untreated syphilis on a black male population for duration of six to nine months and then follow-up with a treatment plan. The research was led by Dr. Taliafero Clark, six hundred Macon County men, 399 with syphilis and 201 who weren’t infected, were enrolled to be part of the study.
Most people in the U.S. learn STDs in their health class in high school. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that causes sores over private parts or all over the body in a later stage. Syphilis is caused by a bacteria called spirochete. The spirochete cannot survive outside the body. The only way to get the disease is by intimate contact, but catching it is rare. Having more than one partner could increase the chances to catch the disease. The spirochete enters in a break in your skin genitals area or mouth. Once in your body, about three weeks it becomes a sore or have multiple sores. The sore looks like a crater on the surface of the skin. In the first stage it can be treated easily with antibiotics or penicillin. The second stage the syphilis spreads to the rest of the body. It is visible in your hand and soles on your feet. It can cause cardio-vascular disease, mental problems, paralysis, blindness and tumors. Syphilis has links to HIV/AIDS. It also attacks your nervous system. After infection it takes 21 to develop any symptoms for other people it takes from 10 to ninety days. It acts like no other disease known. The last stage is the deadliest if ignored, by the person. The damage obtained by syphilis is irreversible. By practicing safe sex (condoms), or having one sex partner can prevent these
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This parasite is spread through the bite of sandflies. There are three different types of infections and they each show varying degrees of severity. The cutaneous form produces mild skin ulcers, mucocutaneous produces ulcers in the mouth and nose, and the visceral form of the disease starts with skin ulcers and then fever, low red blood cell count, and an enlarged spleen and liver. The parasite is detected by a microscope and visceral can also be found by doing blood tests. 12 million people are in infected in 98 different countries and 2 million new cases are found every year. The disease also kills around 20 to 50 thousand people a year.
act of sexual means such as oral, anal, kissing and genital contact. One of the most commonly reported STD in the United States is Chlamydia. The number of this infection is gradually increasing worldwide and costing billions of dollars to health care systems. Today, there is not set type of screening practice or a vaccine available for this infection to decrease globally. Presently, the only treatment available to help ease with the problem, temporarily, is in the form of an antibiotic, which has failed to halt the increase. As a result of this quickly spreading disease, the need for a vaccination to reduce the rate of the spread is desperately needed.
The disease was viewed as a black man’s disease due to its vast spread in the black race community. In this chapter, it is clear that the medical fraternity had formed opinion of the disease even before the start of the experiment. The theme of racial prejudice is brought out clearly in this chapter. The blacks are discriminated from the whites even after learning that syphilis can affect both races alike. The slaves received treatment like their masters just because of economic concerns and not because they were human like their masters. In chapter 3 “Disease Germs Are the Most Democratic Creatures in the World”, the writer points out that the germ theory changed the way syphilis is viewed in the society. It was clear that other emphasis such as sanitation, education and preventative medicine was necessary to combat the disease. The areas inhabited by the blacks were behind in healthcare facilities and service. In this chapter, the theme of unequal distribution of resources is seen. Whereas areas inhabited by the whites had better hospitals and qualified professionals to deal with the
Prostitution allows for a woman to engage in sexual immoralities with multiple partners provided they can afford to pay. This type of practice exposes people to various dangerous diseases which may not be treatable and the more people an individual has sex with, the higher the rate of transmission of such diseases including syphilis, gonorrhea, herpes, and HIV (Clements 60). For instance, an HIV positive woman can infect her child during birth or through breastfeeding after weaning. Married people who engage in sexual activities with other people may end up infecting their marital
Sexually Transmitted Diseases Sexually Transmitted Diseases STDs, a.k.a venereal diseases, infectious diseases passed from one person to another during sexual contact. STDs are the most common infections known. More than 12 million people in the United States, including 3 million teenagers, are infected with STDs every year. The United States has the highest STD rate in the world about one in ten Americans will contract an STD during his or her lifetime. People who do not know they are infected risk infecting their sexual partners and, in some cases, their unborn children. If left untreated, these diseases may cause pain or may destroy a woman's ability to have children. Some STDs can be cured with a single dose of antibiotics, but AIDS cannot be cured. Those most at risk for contracting STDs are people who have unprotected sex—without using a condom, people who have multiple partners, and people whose sex partners are drug users who share needles. Static’s show that Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 are most likely of catching STDs than older adults, because younger people usually have multiple sexual partners than an older person in a long-term relationship. Teenagers may be embarrassed to tell their sexual partners they are infected Teenagers may also be embarrassed or unable to seek medical attention for STDs. This means that they only more likely to pass the disease to other young people and have a greater risk of suffering the long-term consequences of untreated STDs. STDs are transmitted by infectious bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, and single-celled organisms called protozoa that live in warm, moist parts of the body, like the genital area, mouth, and throat. Most STDs are spread while having sex, but oral sex can also spread disease. Some STDs are passed from a mother to her child while pregnant, when the disease enters the baby's bloodstream, during childbirth as the baby passes through the birth canal, or after birth, when the baby drinks infected breast milk. AIDS can be transmitted by blood contact such as open wounds, between people who share infected needles or received through an injection of infected blood. Some people believe that STDs can be transmitted through shaking hands or other casual contact, or through contact with inanimate objects such as clothing or toilet seats, but they can’t. Chlamydeous, is from trachoma is bacterium, is the most commonly transmitted STD in the United States.
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However, as the systemic phase of the illness begins; characterized by fever, chills, malaise and headache, the bite wound becomes swollen and indurated and is often associated with regional adenopathy. The bite site may ulcerate and pregress to a chancre-like lesion. A macular violaceous rash may occur involving extremities, face, and trunk. Joint manifestations are rare. Laboratory studies reveal a leukocytosis and up to 50% of infected have a false-positive serologic test for syphilis. Without antimicrobial therapy, the fever abates over 3-5 days only to recur at regular intervals of 3-10 days. Although relapses have been described to occur for years, spontaneous resolution usually occurs in 1 to 2 months. Without treatment mortality is around