[Question #12430] risk of syphilis for others

7 months ago

Dear doctors, I read your answers to other users' questions and I think you will certainly be able to reassure me too.In November 2022, I was diagnosed with secondary syphilis. during the summer 2022, a rash appeared on my hands and a little on my feet. I read that the rash on the palms and body disappeared within a few weeks, but it was present with me since it appeared (end of July 2022) until the diagnosis itself (November 2022).I was afraid for a long time about the rash on my hands, but I read a lot of answers from Dr. Handsfield and it's clear to me that a dry rash cannot transmit the infection to someone I've held hands with, for example. My best friend's children come to mind right away because I'm the most sensitive to them.I don't remember, but I don't think I had any oral lesions during my infection.I know that the infectious disease doctor also looked at my oral cavity with a flashlight during the examination while taking a chlamydia swab and didn't comment on the fact that I had any visible lesions in my mouth. I read that they are very infectious.I only remember that a few days before the diagnosis I had a few (I hope this is the correct name in English) Aphthous stomatitis, but I get them regularly when I injure my oral cavity with a bite or toothbrush and they are very painful.Does this mean that accidental contact with oral lesions is also risky? For example. My best friend's children were then a 3-year-old girl and two 7-month-old twins.et's say that by accidental contact(by contact I mean contact of seconds, I don't mean deep digging with their fingers in my mouth :) they touched the beginning of my mouth from the inside during play. And children always put their little hands in their mouths. was there a risk for them ?

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

7 months ago

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your question.

It's nice to hear of this concern -- not because it's a serious risk (it is not), but as an indication of your humanity and desire to not harm others. But there was no realistic chance of infecting children or any other people in your environment. Even the most infectious lesions, such as oral mucous patches or ulcers, still require intensive contact to be transmitted. Non sexually transmitted cases used to occur in dentists or physicians in the pre-gloving days, generally involving the fingers after direct contact with oral, genital or anal area lesions, but even these cases were rare. The kinds of contact you describe were not at all risky for the kids involved. You really needn't worry about this. If you think about it, you'll understand that this rarely if ever happens. With the very high rates of syphilis in some population groups, and with many of those persons in close contact with children in their families, homes, etc, there would be at least occasional cases in children with whom they had regular contact -- but no such cases have been reported, at least not in recent decades. You really needn't worry about this.

And by the way, the rash of secondary syphilis often clears within a few weeks, but not always. It can last for months or until treatment.

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear. Best wishes for a happy and worry-free holiday!

HHH, MD

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7 months ago

Dear Dr. First I wish you happy Christmas. Thank you for you replay. Helped a lot.

Of course, when I think with common sense, I understand that this is impossible, but when it comes to those you love the most, in order to be calm, you still need to get an answer like this from an expert whose answers you value. so thank you. You know how worried I was when I asked this question despite the fact that the people around me, even those children, never developed symptoms of syphilis, let alone primary chancre. just one more thing. I read that primary cankes do not hurt. my anal fissure which I believe was the primary wound in which rectum was very itchy. is that usual? dear doctor, you can close the topic.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

7 months ago

I'm glad the information has reassured you about the children you were concerned about.

Anal fissures often are painful or itch. If you had a pre-existing anal chancre, its exposure could have been the route of infection. But it's equally likely it was inside the rectum and therefore invisible to you. Conceivably on your penis or in your mouth or throat, but most likely you would have observed a chancre in either of those locations. Wherever it was, that site had to be sexually exposed, most likely 6-12 weeks before the rash began. Unless you had only a single sexual exposure in that time frame, you're probably never going to know the location of the initial infection. At this point it doesn't matter.

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