Disease “detectives” have discovered an alarming new trend among people suffering from the early stages of syphilis, reporting vision and hearing loss.
It is not unheard of for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the 15th century to damage people’s vision and hearing if left untreated for years.
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But a new study presented at the 2024 Epidemic Intelligence Service Conference in Atlanta claims that syphilis patients typically report these terminal symptoms during the early stages of the disease.
Chicago-based researchers say 28 people in the city reported these symptoms last year, and nearly a third of them were in the early stages of infection.
In addition to this, more than a third (68%) of these patients experience other symptoms typically caused by syphilis, such as rashes or sores on the genitals or mouth, CNN reported. It wasn’t.
The researchers were concerned that some patients may not be infected with syphilis, since doctors often use these types of symptoms to find out whether a person has syphilis.
“Health care providers definitely need to do more screening and realize that this is what we’re seeing,” said lead author of the study, assigned to the Chicago Department of Public Health. said Dr. Amy Nam, one of the “disease detectives.”
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that can cause serious health problems if left untreated.
According to the NHS, it is usually spread by direct skin-to-skin contact, most commonly through unprotected vaginal, anal or oral sex with an infected person.
However, it is possible to infect the fetus during pregnancy, a condition called congenital syphilis.
Syphilis was prevalent in the Middle Ages, and epidemics broke out in Europe in the mid-1490s.
It remained a significant medical problem until the mid-20th century, when medical advances improved treatments and dramatically reduced the number of cases.
Sadly, this was not the last sexually transmitted disease in the 15th century, as cases have increased in recent years.
According to recent government statistics, syphilis diagnoses include: England Following trends seen in the United States, the number of infections has surged to the highest level since 1948, and the disease has reached its highest level in the United States not recorded since the 1950s.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization estimates that 7.1 million adults aged 15 to 49 were infected worldwide in 2020.
In the United States, men who have sex with men have historically been most susceptible to syphilis.
However, infections among heterosexual men and women have more than doubled since 2019, and congenital syphilis is also on the rise.
After medical providers in Chicago reported noticing an increase, Dr. Nam was tasked with testing cases of syphilis with unusual symptoms, known as neurosyphilis, ocular syphilis, otosyphilis or NOO syphilis.
After reviewing medical records from January to August 2023, she identified 28 NOO syphilis patients between the ages of 23 and 82, of whom 75% were male and 71% were black.
About half said they were straight, and six of them said they were gay.
One in three patients (32%) was HIV positive.
Dr. Nam said he expected more people to become infected because HIV infection can make syphilis symptoms more severe.
Symptoms of syphilis and its stages
Symptoms of syphilis are often mild, making it difficult to detect.
They also tend to change over time, appearing and disappearing, so it’s easy to assume you’re not infected, even if you are.
The most common symptoms of infection are:
- Small sores (ulcers) around the penis, vagina, or buttocks (anus) – These are usually painless and may only be one of them.
- Pain in other parts of the mouth, lips, hands, buttocks, etc.
- white or gray wart-like growths most commonly found around the penis, vagina, or anus
- A rash develops on the palms and soles of the feet and may spread to the rest of the body, but it is usually not itchy.
- white spots inside the mouth
- Flu-like symptoms such as high fever, headache, and fatigue
- swelling of the glands
- Patchy hair loss on the head, beard, and eyebrows
These signs may not appear until three weeks (or more) after infection.
In some cases, symptoms may improve or disappear completely, but the infection may still remain in the body if untreated.
This means you can still pass on the infection and risk serious problems later on.
Potential complications include:
- Heart problems such as angina, aortic aneurysm, and heart failure
- Brain problems such as seizures (seizures), memory problems, personality changes, and dementia
- Nerve problems such as shooting pains, tingling pain, joint pain, and gradual damage to the joints
- Problems with the skin, bones, testicles, liver, and other organs
Syphilis tends to develop in stages.
- First stage – 2 to 12 weeks after exposure (patient develops painless ulcers on the genitals, which may heal on their own)
- Secondary stage – 1-6 months after the primary stage (patient may develop an itchy rash on the skin)
- Incubation period (patient shows no symptoms but remains infectious)
- Tertiary stage (patient may develop complications)
Some of these problems may not cause symptoms for many years after contracting syphilis.
At any point during an infection, the syphilis bacterium (Treponema pallidum) can enter the nervous system and affect the brain, eyes, and ears.
This can cause headaches, brain swelling, stroke, and mental changes.
The eyes may become sensitive to light or swell, vision may be affected, and if the infection reaches the ears, hearing loss, dizziness, and ringing in the ears may occur.
Source: NHS, WHO, CDC
Nineteen of the 28 patients did not have typical symptoms of syphilis, such as chancre sores or rash.
The most common symptoms experienced by patients were headaches, changes in personality or mental status, and eye problems such as vision loss, sensitivity to light, and eye swelling.
“Those are not the most specific symptoms, but “That’s why it’s so important for health care professionals to perform proper screening and ask patients about their risk factors,” Dr. Nam said.
Although the study focuses only on syphilis cases in Chicago, Dr. Nam said they are also collecting case reports from other parts of the United States, and doctors are seeing similar trends in other parts of the country. He said there was.
She speculated that the increase in atypical symptoms may be due to a lack of syphilis treatments in the United States.
The preferred treatment for syphilis is an injection of a long-acting penicillin called Vicilin LA, which has been in short supply for the past year.
Dr. Nam warned that “there may be an increase in the number of untreated or inadequately treated patients, leading to more severe outcomes of syphilis.”
This comes after a cluster of syphilis eye infections was reported in Michigan after five women slept with the same man.
Doctors in the UK should watch out for syphilis in all pregnant women under new NHS guidelines after doctors warned of “increasing numbers” of diagnoses of the sexually transmitted disease in both pregnant women and their unborn babies. were warned.
Experts say syphilis is treatable if detected early, but if undetected, it can become serious and life-threatening in the long term.
