It has long been known that the earlier a person has a disease, the easier it is to get rid of it and the more likely it is not to get any complications, although sometimes it is even about life.
Syphilis is one such disease that often goes unnoticed. A person may not even suspect that he has such a dangerous disease. Testing for syphilis (RW) helps to diagnose the presence of the disease as early as possible. Lues is an older name for syphilis, which is a chronic disease. This disease is caused by the bacterium treponema, or pale spirochete, which was discovered by scientists in the early 20th century. This bacterium is shaped like a spiral and has from five to twenty-four curls 1 micron long. The spirochete is called pale for the fact that it refracts light poorly and is practically not exposed to aniline dyes. This microorganism can live in the environment for about four days, preferringlow temperature. In this regard, there is the possibility of a domestic route of infection with syphilis.
Syphilis can be transmitted to an infant before birth from the mother through the placenta. This can happen in the first three years of the mother's illness.
There are several periods of the course of the disease, which differ in symptoms and consequences. Early diagnosis and treatment of syphilis may prevent subsequent stages.
Periods of syphilis:
incubation - lasts 20-40 days from the moment of infection;
primary - begins with the appearance of a hard chancre, from the moment of the first generalized rash ends (about seven weeks) and the secondary period begins. It lasts up to four years, until tertiary syphiloids (gum tubercles) appear. The Tertiary period is characterized by various unpleasant manifestations, such as softening of the bones. It lasts until death.
A blood test for syphilis helps in the early diagnosis of the disease, regardless of the manifestations. In the later stages of the disease, tissue fluid from ulcers and lymph from lymph nodes are taken for research. Blood for analysis for syphilis is taken in the morning on an empty stomach. Such an analysis is based on the fact that in the blood serum of patients with syphilis there are antibodies against the pathogen. If a person is he althy, they are absent in the body. A negative reaction is the presence of a hemolysis process (destruction of red blood cells). The absence of hemolysis makes it necessary to evaluate the degree of reaction, depending on the period of the disease (from one to three pluses are marked, inseverity).
Syphilis test is always positive in the secondary period. With primary syphilis, the body can behave differently: the first two and a half weeks of the disease, the analysis may show a negative reaction, at 5 or 6 weeks of illness, only a quarter of patients have a positive reaction, at 7-8 weeks, the analysis for syphilis shows a positive result in 70- 80% of patients. There is also a false positive test for syphilis in 3-5% of he althy people.
Often, during mass examinations, an analysis is made for syphilis using a selection reaction - blood, blood serum (active, inactive), and plasma are dripped onto the glass, and a cardiolipid antigen is added. In he althy people, the reaction is negative. If the test for syphilis is positive, thorough examinations of the body are carried out, allowing a final diagnosis to be made.
