Syphilis

How do you get it?

Syphilis is a bacterial infection which is most usually transmitted through fucking without a condom and cock-sucking, but which can also be caught through rimming, fisting and even through skin to skin contact (although this is rare).

How do you prevent it?

Using condoms will prevent many cases of syphilis. If you wanted to reduce the risks further, you would have to use condoms for oral sex. Sucking cock carries a risk even if he doesn’t cum in your mouth.

How do you know you’ve got it?

The symptoms develop in four stages:

Stage 1 (also known as primary syphilis): a small painless sore or hardened lump will appear one to ten weeks after infection, near the point where the bacteria entered your body. This could be your arse, cock, or mouth. It’s possible for this to go unnoticed, especially if it is in your arse.

Stage 2 (aka secondary syphilis): up to two to six months later, you may experience a rash on the body and a flu-like illness involving fever, headache, and sore throat. The symptoms between stage one and stage two may be mild and difficult to spot.

Stage 3 (aka early latent syphilis): At this stage syphilis usually has no symptoms but as the infection at this stage is established in the blood it can be easily transmitted to sexual partners.

Stage 4 (aka late latent syphilis): Here’s the bad bit – after a couple of years, if left untreated, syphilis will stop being contagious to sexual partners but at this stage the infection can cause blindness, deafness, brain damage, heart attacks, paralysis, lung problems and strokes.

How do you treat it?

Syphilis is detectable by a blood test and if it is treated early enough it is completely curable with antibiotics, causing no permanent damage. Even at the latest stage syphilis is still curable, but any damage done by the syphilis may be irreparable. Because the symptoms are easy to miss, it’s worth having regular sexual health check-ups, including blood tests for syphilis, if you are sexually active. Blood testing for syphilis typically involves three testing processes and after an infection, even if it is cured, some of these tests will give a positive result. It is important to follow the advice from the GUM clinic as it may be difficult to tell whether the test is reacting to the previous infection or to a new infection of syphilis.

Throughout the 1990s syphilis was relatively rare, but the numbers of gay men seeking treatment for syphilis in the last few years has increased considerably, with over 1400 cases being diagnosed at GUM clinics in the UK in 2006.