Syphilis

Syphilis is an infection caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. It can spread through sexual contact or from a pregnant person to a fetus.

Treponema pallidum: A spiral-shaped bacterium that causes syphilis and is transmitted mainly through sexual contact or across the placenta. This bacterium causes syphilis and drives its characteristic progression through stages.
Penicillin: A group of beta-lactam antibiotics that inhibit bacterial cell-wall synthesis. Penicillin is the standard treatment for syphilis, including during pregnancy.
Columbian hypothesis: The hypothesis that syphilis was brought to Europe from the Americas after Columbus's voyages. It is one prominent explanation for syphilis's appearance in Europe in the late fifteenth century.
Tertiary syphilis: Late syphilis that can cause severe damage to the heart, brain, and other organs. Untreated infection can progress to destructive disease years later.
Yaws: A chronic nonvenereal infection caused by Treponema pallidum subspecies pertenue, spread through skin contact. Yaws is caused by a close relative of the syphilis bacterium but is not sexually transmitted.
Primary syphilis: The first clinical stage of syphilis, typically marked by a painless sore at the site of infection. The initial chancre marks the local entry of the infection.
Congenital syphilis: Syphilis acquired by a fetus or newborn from an infected pregnant person. Transmission across the placenta can cause severe illness or pregnancy loss.
Pre-Columbian hypothesis: The hypothesis that syphilis existed in Europe before Columbus's voyages to the Americas. It challenges the claim that syphilis arrived in Europe from the Americas.
Syphilitic aortitis: Inflammation and damage of the aorta caused by late syphilis. Cardiovascular syphilis can weaken the aortic wall and lead to aneurysm.
Bejel: A nonvenereal treponemal infection caused by Treponema pallidum subspecies endemicum. Bejel resembles syphilis biologically but spreads through close nonsexual contact.

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