Syphilis is a common infection which is caused by a bacterium treponema pallid. These cork shaped bacteria cause the infection which is mainly transmitted through sexual contact. Syphilis symptoms progress through four stages and the incubation period for this infection is anytime between 9 days to 3 months.

The syphilis symptoms in the primary stage start off with a sore in the area of infection and this may include the genitals, mouth or the rectum. The sore is firm round or oval and feels like a button. It is accompanied with swelling of glands in the groin regions. The sore in the primary stages often heals in a few weeks but the infection continues to spread.

The syphilis symptoms in the secondary stage are observed several weeks after the bacteria spreads through the body. Initially a person may feel unwell and suffer from general aches and sickness along with headache and fever. Loss of appetite may also be experienced. A red rash may be observed in some cases particularly on the back region of the legs and on the face, hands, back and feet.

Other symptoms in this stage include sores in the nose, mouth, throat and the genitals. Hair fall in patches may also be experienced. The rash tends to heal on its own in some time and no resultant scarring is observed. However after the rash heals some amount of skin discoloration may be observed

The sores that are observed as a part of syphilis symptoms contain active bacteria and so these can be transferred through physical contact including sexual and non sexual contact with infected persons. Such transmission can take place through contact with broken skin. In the latent stage the disease is not contagious and no symptoms may be present. This latent period may be as less as 1 year and in some cases the latent period can last for 5 to 20 years.

In the final stage the syphilis symptoms are observed among those individuals who are not treated. The symptoms in this case include painful ulcers and lesions on the skin and ligaments along with the joints and the bones. In this stage the infection can also attack the heart, blood vessels and the nervous system and it can result in blindness, insanity and paralysis in some cases.

Syphilis bacteria may also invade a person’s nervous system in the early periods of the infection and this is called neurosyphilis. Around 3 to 7 percent of the population develops this condition particularly when syphilis is left untreated. The symptoms associated with this condition include fever due to inflammation in the brain lining, stiffness in the neck along with headache.