Treatment and Prevention
Penicillin is the best cure for all stages of syphilis. Despite over 60 years of use, the syphilis bacterium has not yet developed resistance to this original antibiotic. For primary syphilis, one injection (usually given as half a dose into each buttock) is enough to permanently cure this disease that once claimed so many lives.
Secondary and latent syphilis are treated the same way. But instead of one large injection there are three large injections over successive weeks. Over 50% of people with infectious syphilis, especially those in the secondary stage, suffer a reaction when they're first treated. The symptoms include a sudden fever with headache, sweating, and possibly a rash. This clears up in less than 24 hours.
Penicillin stops the infectivity within a day or two, and cures the disease in a week or two. A person should wait until the treatment is finished before engaging in sex. If the person is allergic to penicillin, another antibiotic can be substituted.
Experts believe that one reason why only a third of untreated people infected in developed countries go on to develop tertiary syphilis, compared with more than half in poorer countries, is that those people in developed countries are being cured accidentally by antibiotics given for other conditions such as skin infections, sinus infections, or pneumonias.
Tertiary syphilis is also treated with penicillin injections. Usually therapy is longer than just a few doses. Though this doesn't always kill all the hidden bacteria, it does generally stop further damage. There's no way to repair the organ damage that's already been done, however.
The best way to avoid these complications is to avoid syphilis by practicing
safe sex. Wearing a condom is a good first step, but standard intercourse
is not the only way to get syphilis. Any mouth-to-genital contact and sometimes
even mouth-to-mouth contact is enough. The only real protection is to limit
your number of sexual partners and be careful who they are. If you develop syphilis, your sexual partners should
be tested and possibly treated.