• Bacteria cause syphilis.
• Symptoms of syphilis occur in stages.
• First, sores appear in the genital area within three weeks to three months after having unprotected sex with an infected person; the sores usually are not painful.
• In women, sores may be hidden in the vagina. Sores disappear after a few weeks, but bacteria remain in the body.
• Second, the disease reappears as a rash on the palms of the hands, bottoms of the feet or somewhere else on the body. The rash disappears, too, but the bacteria can attack other parts of the body years later.
• Blindness and brain damage may occur up to 30 years later. A mother may pass syphilis to her unborn child.
• At any stage of the disease, penicillin can cure syphilis, but damage cannot be reversed.

Return to Top