Around 55,000 people contract syphilis every year, a sexual infection which affects the wellness and wellbeing of people through unprotected sex. According to the Centers for Disease Control, most people (around 79 per cent) who suffer from the disease are men who have had sex with other men, although anyone – male or female – can contract syphilis if they have unprotected sex.
What most people don’t realise is that syphilis can be transmitted through all the different types of intercourse, such as vaginal, oral and anal.
In the first stage of infection, people who have contracted syphilis may have sores on the area that has come into contact with the infection.
This bacterial STI is usually characterised by the presence of a sore on the part of their body which came into contact with the infection. This means that you can get a syphilis sore on your genital area, rectal area or in and around your mouth. When this sore appears, it usually indicates that the syphilis infection is in the first stage, and that the contact with the disease has occurred a few weeks ago.
Many people who have the sore still do not realise that they have contracted syphilis. This is because it is often hidden away in an area of the genital or the rectum, and it is also usually painless. During this time frame, this is when syphilis is the most contagious, and this is why it is so easily spread as the affected person will often have sexual contact with another without realising that they are infectious.
When syphilis is in the second stage, it usually causes more alarm as it shows up as a rash which spreads over the entire body. This rash may or may not be itchy, and it can include the development of sores in the mouth or on the genitals that appear to be a bit like warts.