Syphilis is a common sexually transmitted infection that is spread through direct contact with a syphilis sore during vaginal, anal, or oral sex. A pregnant person can also pass syphilis to their baby during pregnancy (called congenital syphilis).

Yes, syphilis can be cured with antibiotics! Syphilis can cause serious health problems if it is not treated.

Syphilis is easily treated with a penicillin injection (shot), which is safe during pregnancy. Depending on the stage of your infection, you may need only 1 shot or you may need 3 shots. You should start your treatment right away and finish the treatment fully to get cured and avoid infecting your baby. The earlier you get treated during your pregnancy, the less likely you will infect your baby. That is why it is important to get early prenatal care and to go to all your prenatal care appointments throughout your pregnancy. Your sex partner(s) should also get tested and treated for syphilis right away to protect themselves, you, and your baby.

Yes, you can get syphilis again even after you have been successfully treated for it. That is why it is important for your sex partner(s) to also get tested and treated for syphilis, and for you to get tested multiple times throughout your pregnancy. It is also important for you to take actions, like using condoms the right way every time you have sex, to reduce your risk of getting syphilis again.

You could have syphilis without knowing it because some people do not have symptoms or have only very mild symptoms. That is why it is important that you get tested. The signs and symptoms of syphilis depend on the stage of syphilis you have. There are 4 stages:

1. Primary stage: You may notice a single sore or multiple sores in, on, or around the vagina, penis, anus, rectum, lips, or mouth. The sores often do not cause pain, so you may not notice them. They usually last 3 to 6 weeks. Even if the sores go away on their own, you still need treatment to make sure the infection does not move to the secondary stage.

2. Secondary stage: You may have skin rashes and/or sores in your mouth, vagina, anus, or on the palms of your hands and/or bottoms of your feet. You may not notice them. Other symptoms include fever, swollen lymph glands, sore throat, patchy hair loss, headaches, weight loss, muscle aches, and feeling very tired. It is important to get treated even if these symptoms go away to make sure the infection does not move to the next stages.

3. Latent stage: You will not have visible signs or symptoms of syphilis during this stage, but you will still have syphilis in your body and can pass it to others. Without treatment, you can have syphilis in your body for years.

4. Tertiary stage: Most people with untreated syphilis will not develop tertiary syphilis, but those who do can have serious health problems. Tertiary syphilis damages your internal organs and can cause death.

At any stage, syphilis can also spread to your brain, eyes, or ears if you do not get it treated. This could cause muscle weakness, changes to your mental state, dementia, changes to your vision, blindness, or hearing loss.

When a pregnant person passes syphilis to their baby during pregnancy or childbirth, the disease in the baby is called congenital syphilis.

Congenital syphilis can cause serious health problems for your baby including:

• Miscarriage (losing the baby during pregnancy)

• Stillbirth (when a baby is born dead)

• Prematurity (when a baby is born early)

• Low birthweight

• Death shortly after birth

• Deformed bones

• Severe anemia (low blood count)

• Enlarged liver and spleen

• Jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes)

• Blindness or deafness

• Meningitis (infection and swelling around the brain and spinal cord)

• Skin rashes

You can protect yourself from getting syphilis by:

• Not having vaginal, anal, or oral sex

• Asking your sex partner(s) if they have been tested for syphilis before you get intimate.

• Using a condom the right way every time you have vaginal, oral, or anal sex

• Postponing sex until your partner with syphilis completes treatment and gets cured

You can protect your baby from getting syphilis by:

• Getting tested for syphilis throughout your pregnancy – as soon as you find out you are pregnant, at your first prenatal visit, during the third trimester, at delivery, and any other time you think you may have been exposed to syphilis such as when having vaginal, anal, or oral sex with a new sex partner or with a partner who may have untreated syphilis

• Receiving treatment right away if you test positive for syphilis and completing the full course of treatment

• Reducing your risk of getting syphilis before and during your pregnancy by asking your sex partner if they have been tested for syphilis before you get intimate, using a condom the right way every time you have vaginal, oral, or anal sex, and postponing sex until a partner with syphilis completes treatment and gets cured.

Yes, there is treatment for congenital syphilis. It is important for babies with congenital syphilis to get treated right away, or else they can develop serious health problems. Some babies may need only one antibiotic injection while others may need antibiotics for 10 days in the hospital.