latent syphilis

latent syphilis

Etymology: L, latere, to be concealed; Gk, syn, together, philein, to love

a stage of syphilis infection in which no clinical symptoms appear, although serologic tests indicate the presence of the syphilis spirochete. Latent syphilis occurs in two phases following secondary syphilis. The early phase occurs within 1 year of infection, and the late phase occurs after 1 year of infection. Late latent syphilis is noninfectious. Latency can persist for 3 to 30 years and may or may not progress to tertiary syphilis. See also syphilis.

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syphilis (sif´ilis) (lues),

n a sexually transmitted disease caused by
T. pallidum and usually transmitted by direct contact. Oral lesions include primary chancre, secondary mucous patches and split papule, and tertiary gumma.

syphilis, congenital,

n a type that is transmitted prenatally by the mother to the fetus. Congenital syphilis may lead to Hutchinson's incisors, mulberry molars, or rhagades. See also chancre; gumma; incisors, Hutchinson's; molar, mulberry; patch, mucous; and Treponema pallidum.

Congenital syphilis.

syphilis, latent,

n a stage in which no clinical signs or symptoms of the disease are present. It is usually discovered by serologic tests.

syphilis, primary,

n a stage characterized by the appearance of a small painless pustule on the skin of a mucous membrane within 10 to 90 days after exposure. The lesion may appear anywhere on the body where contact with a lesion on an infected person has occurred, but it is most often seen in the anogenital region. It quickly erodes, forming a painless, bloodless ulcer, called a
chancre, exuding a fluid that swarms with spirochetes. The disease is highly contagious during this stage.

Primary syphilis.

syphilis, secondary,

n a stage that occurs about 2 months after the primary stage. Secondary syphilis is characterized by general malaise, anorexia, nausea, fever, headache, alopecia, bone and joint pain, or the appearance of a morbilliform rash that does not itch, flat white sores in the oral cavity and throat, and condylomata lata papules on the moist areas of the skin. The disease is highly contagious during this stage.

Secondary syphilis.

syphilis, tertiary,

n stage may not develop for 3 to 15 years after the initial infection. It is characterized by the appearance of soft, rubbery tumors, called
gummas; the valves of the heart may be damaged, and late stages may lead to mental or physical disability and premature death.

Tertiary syphilis.