India on verge of eliminating Syphilis

December 29, 2011

Syphilis (caused by treponema pallidum) actually appears due to the sexual intercourse or masturbate done through the infected persons and thus it is basically a sexual contact disease.
The most common symptoms of it are the appearance of red spots on the penis and vagina after the sex later the occurrence of the hard painless sore on the genitalia, skin eruptions, serious tissues destruction in the any part of the body.
Syphilis is a multistage infectious disease that is usually transmitted through contact with active lesions of a sexual partner or from an infected pregnant woman to her foetus.
Despite elimination efforts, syphilis remains endemic in many developing countries and has re-emerged in several developed countries and developing countries. In the absence of a vaccine, syphilis control is largely dependent upon identification of infected individuals and treatment of these individuals and their contacts with antibiotics.
Although penicillin is still effective, clinically significant resistance to macrolides, a second-line alternative to penicillin, has emerged. Macrolide-resistant strains of Treponema pallidum are now prevalent in several developed countries. An understanding of the genetic basis of T. pallidum antibiotic resistance is essential to enable molecular surveillance.
Recently, ational AIDS Control Organization (Naco) said that India is on the verge of eliminating syphilis. As per NACO, Syphilis, which earlier used to affect about 8% of pregnant women, has been reduced to less than 1%. Among female sex workers, it affects about 4% as against 30% till a few years ago.