Clinical Significance

Syphilis is a chronic, systemic sexually transmitted disease caused by the pale (syphilis) spirochete. It is mainly transmitted through the sexual route and can be clinically manifested as stage I syphilis, stage II syphilis, stage III syphilis, latent syphilis and congenital syphilis (fetus-borne syphilis).
    Syphilis is a uniquely human disease. Patients with overt and covert syphilis are the source of infection, and the skin lesions, their secretions, and blood of people infected with syphilis contain the syphilis spirochete. Syphilis is most contagious in the first 2 years of infection, while sexual transmission decreases significantly after 4 years. Syphilis spirochetes can be transmitted to the fetus through the placenta, and there is a high risk of transmission from a pregnant woman with early syphilis to her fetus.