Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum.

Primary syphilis

Secondary syphilis

Syphilis cannot be contracted through toilet seats, daily activities, hot tubs, or sharing eating utensils or clothing.
Syphilis is a bacterial infection usually spread by sexual contact. The disease starts as a painless sore on your genitals, mouth or another part of your body. If untreated, syphilis can damage your heart and brain.
Syphilis progresses in stages and can lead to serious complications or death. Having syphilis also makes you more vulnerable to HIV. When caught early, syphilis can be cured with antibiotics.

Symptoms

Syphilis develops in four stages, and symptoms vary with each stage. But the stages may overlap, and symptoms don't always occur in the same order. You may be infected with syphilis and not notice any symptoms for years.

Primary syphilis

These signs may occur from 10 days to three months after exposure:

A small, firm, painless sore (chancre).
The sore will heal without treatment, but the syphilis infection remains. In some people, syphilis then moves to the secondary stage.

Secondary syphilis

The signs and symptoms of secondary syphilis begin two to 10 weeks after the chancre appears and may include:

Skin rash, often appearing as rough, red or reddish-brown, penny-sized sores, over any area of your body, including your palms and soles
Fever
Fatigue and a vague feeling of discomfort
Soreness and aching
Swollen lymph glands
Sore throat
Wart-like sores in the mouth or genital area

These signs and symptoms may disappear within a few weeks or repeatedly come and go for as long as a year.

Latent syphilis

If you aren't treated for syphilis, the disease moves from the secondary to the latent (hidden) stage, when you have no symptoms. The latent stage can last for years. Signs and symptoms may never return, or the disease may progress to the tertiary (third) stage.

Tertiary or late syphilis

About 15 to 30 percent of people infected with syphilis who don't get treatment will develop complications known as tertiary, or late, syphilis. In the late stages, the disease may damage your brain, nerves, eyes, heart, blood vessels, liver, bones and joints. These problems may occur many years after the original infection.

Some of the signs and symptoms of late syphilis include:

Jerky or uncoordinated muscle movements
Paralysis
Numbness
Gradual blindness
Dementia

Congenital syphilis

If you're pregnant, you may pass syphilis to your unborn baby. Blood containing the bacteria reaches the fetus through the placenta, the organ that nourishes the developing baby. This is known as congenital syphilis.

Most infants born with syphilis have no symptoms of the disease. Almost all develop symptoms by 3 months of age, though some children with congenital syphilis show no signs of the disease until after age 2.

Early signs and symptoms, which occur before the age of two, may include:

"Snuffles" (runny nose)
Skin sores
Rashes
Fever
Jaundice — yellow skin
Infection of the umbilical cord
Anemia
Swollen liver and spleen

If not treated right away, the baby may experience serious problems, including:

Deformities
Tooth abnormalities
Deafness
Developmental delays
Seizures
Death

What is the treatment for syphilis?

Syphilis is treated with various Antibiotics. The amount of reatment depends on the stage of syphilis the patient is in. Pregnant women with a history of allergic reaction to penicillin should undergo penicillin desensitization followed by appropriate penicillin therapy. A baby born with the disease needs daily penicillin treatment for 10 days.

What can be done to prevent the spread of syphilis?

There are number of ways to prevent the spread of syphilis:
• Limit your number of sex partners;
• Use a male or female condom;
• If you think you are infected, avoid sexual contact and visit your local STD clinic, a hospital or your doctor;
• Notify all sexual contacts immediately so they can obtain examination and treatment;
• All pregnant women should receive at least one prenatal blood test for syphilis.

Chlamydia infection is a common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in humans caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. Chlamydia is a major infectious cause of human genital disease. Chlamydia infection is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections worldwide.
Chlamydia can be transmitted during vaginal, anal, or oral sex, and can be passed from an infected mother to her baby during vaginal childbirth.
In men, infection of the urethra (urethritis) is usually symptomatic, causing a white discharge from the penis with or without pain on urinating (dysuria).

Occasionally, the conditions spreads to the upper genital tract in women (causing pelvic inflammatory disease) or to the epididymis in men (causing epididymitis). If untreated, chlamydial infections can cause serious reproductive and other health problems with both short-term and long-term consequences.

Signs and symptoms

Genital disease

Chlamydial cervicitis in a female patient characterized by mucopurulent cervical discharge, erythema, and inflammation.

Male patients may develop a white, cloudy or watery discharge (shown) from the tip of the penis.
Chlamydial infection of the neck of the womb (cervicitis) is a sexually transmitted infection which is asymptomatic for about 50-70% of women infected with the disease.

The infection can be passed through vaginal, anal, or oral sex. Of those who have an asymptomatic infection that is not detected by their doctor, approximately half will develop pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), a generic term for infection of the uterus, fallopian tubes, and/or ovaries. PID can cause scarring inside the reproductive organs, which can later cause serious complications, including chronic pelvic pain, difficulty becoming pregnant, ectopic (tubal) pregnancy, and other dangerous complications of pregnancy.

Symptoms that may occur include: unusual vaginal bleeding or discharge, pain in the abdomen, painful sexual intercourse (dyspareunia), fever, painful urination or the urge to urinate more frequently than usual (urinary urgency). Low back pain, nausea, fever, pain during intercourse, or bleeding between menstrual periods. Chlamydial infection of the cervix can spread to the rectum.

Men with signs or symptoms might have a discharge from their penis or a burning sensation when urinating. Men might also have burning and itching around the opening of the penis. Pain and swelling in the testicles are uncommon.

In men, Chlamydia shows symptoms of infectious urethritis (inflammation of the urethra). Symptoms that may occur include: a painful or burning sensation when urinating, an unusual discharge from the penis, swollen or tender testicles, or fever. Discharge, or the purulent is generally less viscous and lighter in color than for gonorrhea. If left untreated, it is possible for Chlamydia in men to spread to the testicles causing epididymitis, which in rare cases can cause sterility if not treated within 6 to 8 weeks. Chlamydia is also a potential cause of prostatitis in men.

Perinatal infections

As many as half of all infants born to mothers with chlamydia will be born with the disease. Chlamydia can affect infants by causing spontaneous abortion; premature birth; conjunctivitis, which may lead to blindness; and pneumonia.

Treatment

C. trachomatis infection can be effectively cured with various antibiotics once it is detected.

Molluscum contagiosum (MC) is a viral infection of the skin. It is caused by poxvirus called the molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV). Molluscum contagiosum lesions are flesh-colored, dome-shaped, and pearly in appearance. They are often 1–5 millimeters in diameter, with a dimpled center.

The MC rash initially appears as smooth, pearly to flesh-colored, dome-shaped papules. With time, the center becomes soft and indented (umbilicated) with a white curdlike core.

Molluscum contagiosum (MC) that was first described in 1817. It is common worldwide and accounts for about 1% of all skin disorders in the United States.

Typically, the lesion of molluscum begins as a small, painless papule that may become raised up to a pearly, flesh-colored nodule. The papule often has a dimple in the center.

This common viral disease has a higher incidence in children, sexually active adults, the infection is most common in children aged one to ten years old. MC can affect any area of the skin but is most common on the trunk of the body, arms, and legs. It is spread through direct contact or shared items such as clothing or towels.

The virus commonly spreads through skin-to-skin contact. This includes sexual contact or touching or scratching the bumps and then touching the skin.
It primarily affects children (boys more often than girls).

Molluscum Contagiosum Causes

Molluscum contagiosum is transmitted by direct contact, either person to person or by shared items, such as clothing, towels, and washcloths.
Outbreaks have occurred in the following settings:

swimming pools,
wrestling matches,
during surgery, by a surgeon with a hand lesion (sore),
having tattoos (rare), and
Sexually: It is likely that genital lesions are sexually transmitted.

Lesions develop within two to three months after exposure. Some doctors consider MC a sexually transmitted disease in adolescents and adults and recommend that people with genital MC be tested for other STDs. However, not all genital lesions in adults are sexually transmitted.

Usually, there is no itching or tenderness, and there are no generalized symptoms such as fever, nausea, or weakness.

Medical Treatment

Removal of lesions reduces the rate of spread to other people as well as from one part of the body to another.

Genital lesions in adults should be treated in order to prevent spread through sexual contact.

The most popular treatments are scraping of the lesions (called curettage) or removal using heat (called cautery) or cold (called cryotherapy, a procedure performed with liquid nitrogen).

In children, the papules typically appear on the face, neck, armpits, hands and arms. In adults, molluscum contagiosum may be a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and is usually seen on the genitals, lower abdomen, inner upper thighs and buttocks.