Syphilis is a chronic infectious disease caused by Treponema pallidum that, in a majority of cases, is spread by direct sexual contact with an infected
person in the early stages of disease.
1
Much less frequently, the infection is transferred from mother to infant during pregnancy
and extremely rarely, by transfusion or by smear. Because the infection involves multiple
tissues, including the skin, cardiac, skeletal, and neurologic systems,
2
syphilis is characterized by many diverse clinical manifestations that occur in distinct
stages; thus, great clinical experience is needed to recognize the clinical symptoms
of the disease. According to the mode of transmission, syphilis is classified into
acquired and congenital syphilis. According to the clinical picture and duration of
disease, syphilis is divided into early syphilis (up to 1 year from infection), which
includes primary, secondary, and early latent syphilis, and late syphilis (>1 year
from infection), which includes late latent and tertiary syphilis.
2
,
3
Patients with syphilis are most infectious during 1 to 2 years of the infection,
with a decreasing activity after that time.
1
Our aim is to review the current status of the epidemiology, diagnosis, and therapy
of syphilis in Croatia.To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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© 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
