What are the different stages of syphilis?

Stages of syphilis

Syphilis infection has several distinct stages of infection. The stages of syphilis are:

• Primary syphilis
• Secondary syphilis
• Tertiary Syphilis

Primary syphilis

Initial contact to the organism during sexual activity results in the formation of a painless skin lesion called a chancre at the site of infection (primary syphilis), developing anywhere from a week to 3 months after infection.

Secondary syphilis

During the weeks after the formation of the chancre, the disease then spreads to other parts of the body. Secondary syphilis often appears within 8 weeks following the skin lesions. The symptoms appear to resemble a flu infection, such as fever, headache, and joint aches. A skin rash often appears, covering most of the body. Sores may develop in the mouth and on many of the mucous membranes in the body. Syphilis can be easily transmitted during secondary infection. The symptoms of secondary stage syphilis generally fade after a few weeks even without treatment.

Tertiary Syphilis

Approximately 10% of untreated cases develop tertiary stage of syphilis. The organism can infiltrate any organ or system in the body, resulting in soft tumors in the eye, lungs, bone, brain. Treatment at the tertiary stage of syphilis has poor success rates for curing syphilis.