Today, we live in the 21st century. The entire world has undergone a transformation. With the advancement of science and technology, medical science has also reached a better stage. Sadly, people are still not enough educated about sexual health to discuss it openly. As a result of sexual education, people are unaware of sexually transmitted infections. Even if they are infected with sexually transmitted infections they do not like to go to the doctor and get it treated. With time, this sexual infection increases and causes more damage.
There are several types of sexually transmitted infections. Of all, a common one is a syphilis. Syphilis is a chronic infection of bacteria that can be transmitted from one person to another through sexual contact. The bacteria that cause syphilis is known as treponema pallidum. If you have been infected with syphilis or have come in contact with a person who has syphilis, you can get it treated at the right time and survive for a long time.
Since many people are not aware of syphilis and its treatment we have come up with this blog on the same. One common doubt that many people have is whether syphilis can be detected in a routine blood test. To help you come out of this dilemma, we have included an answer to this question in this blog. To know more about the blood test for syphilis, read the blog till the end.
Syphilis blood test
To understand whether you are suffering from syphilis, first, you have to visit a doctor’s chamber. Next to be sure about the disease the doctor will ask you to undergo a blood test that will prove the presence of syphilis in your body. One of the best places to get the test would be to contact private blood testing in London for syphilis. Generally, there are two common types of syphilis blood test screening that can help the detection of the disease provided it is under the radar at an early stage. These two blood tests are rapid plasma reagin and venereal disease research laboratory.
The purpose of these two tests is to checkout for antibodies against the syphilis bacteria. Once you submit blood samples for these two tests, you can expect to get the results within the first two days. Often the doctor will ask you to undergo a series of syphilis blood tests either to dismiss or confirm the diagnosis of syphilis. This is a sign of a positive screening test that will tell you and the doctor whether the screenings are required.
When the reports of the result come out as negative, your doctor will ask you to wait for a few weeks and repeat the test. This is because sometimes the production of antibodies against the sexually transmitted infection starts little delayed. So, if this happens in your case, the doctor prefers waiting for a few weeks and undergoing the test once again. If you have had syphilis for less than 3 months, it can produce a false negative VDRL result.
Symptoms of syphilis
Only speaking about the blood test of syphilis to detect whether you are suffering from one or infected with one is not enough. You will only go for a blood test when you notice some signs and symptoms of syphilis externally. Although the symptoms of syphilis can never be apparent, they will fade out once you start the treatment. The symptoms of syphilis vary from person to person. What is more interesting is some people can have no symptoms of syphilis at all even when there is a bacterial infection within the body.
Let’s take a look at the typical symptoms of syphilis irrespective of the degree of infection.
- Painless and small sores or ulcers that are often noticed on the surface of the vagina penis and in and around the anus. This source can also appear in other parts of your body, especially inside the mouth.
- Joint pains extreme fatigue and high body temperature and swollen glands in the armpit neck and groin.
- Little blotchy, and red rashes that often found on the hands, palms or soles of the feet.
- Small white patches inside the mouth.
- Tiny skin growths that look like genital warts may be noticed in the valve of a woman or in and around the and both in men and women.
Who are at risk of getting syphilis?
Not all people are at risk of getting infected by syphilis. There are certain factors which when we met can lead to the development of syphilis in the human body. First, if you have had syphilis in the past, you can be infected with it again. The second possibility of getting infected by syphilis can come if you have sex with someone who is already infected with it.
It is important to know that even if you do not notice any signs and symptoms on the external body, you can still have the syphilis infection inside your body. The sores for ulcers of syphilis can be hidden inside your body. Therefore, it is imperative to visit a doctor’s chamber right after you have had sex with a person who has syphilis. If you are sexually active, speak to your doctor about syphilis and other forms of STDs. A doctor asks you to undergo a blood test if:
- You are a pregnant woman
- You are a man and you have had sex with a person of the same gender
- You are sexually active when HIV positive
- You want to take pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV prevention
Transmission of syphilis
There is only one way through which syphilis can be transmitted and that is direct contact with syphilitic sores for chancres. As we have already mentioned earlier, the syphilis source normally develops either on the mouth or penis or vagina or anus. Since syphilis is transmitted through sexual contact, you can get it if you have oral sex or anal sex or vaginal sex or even direct genital-to-genital contact.
Syphilis is not just restricted to adults. The babies can also get syphilis if their mother is the carrier of the infection and it is left untreated for a long time. This type of syphilis is known as congenital syphilis. Although it is extremely rare, syphilis can also be transmitted through blood transfusion. However, there are some myths about syphilis contraction. People believe that sharing a toilet or wearing another person’s clothes or using a person’s utensils and toiletries can infect you with syphilis. All these are made and syphilis can only be contracted by sexual contact.
The connection between syphilis and pregnancy
The moment you get to know about your pregnancy the doctor will ask you to undergo syphilis and other sexually transmitted infections screenings as a part of the regular parental care during the first trimester. The reason for doing such screenings is to prevent pregnancy complications. Further, the doctors also undergo a syphilis screening because the syphilis bacteria can be transmitted into the foetus. Once the syphilis bacteria are in the features it can be life-threatening to newborns and can ultimately damage the foetus.
Conclusion
Therefore, the only way to know whether you are infected with a sexually transmitted infection is to undergo a medical screening. If you keep STDs untreated for a long time you are putting your life at risk. If you do not want to complicate the symptoms of syphilis and would prefer to lead a healthy life, contact a doctor immediately. Visit here for more information about syphilis.
