Syphilis

How can you get syphilis?

You can get syphilis through sex. Condoms reduce the chances of infection.

You can get syphilis through:

• Anal sex
• Blowjobs
• Rimming
• Kissing or French kissing
• Cuddling or dry humping

Higher risk

You have a higher risk for syphilis if you:

• Are a man who has sex with men
• Have various sex partners
• Have chemsex
• Have group sex

What are the symptoms of syphilis?

Syphilis can cause different symptoms. Usually, this is what you can expect:

First symptoms

These can appear 2 to 12 weeks after infection:

• Ulcers on your penis or anus
• Ulcers on your mouth, your tongue, or your palate
• Swollen glands

The ulcers feel hard to the touch, but don’t hurt. They mostly disappear after 3-6 weeks. If you don’t get medication, the disease will stay in your body.

Long-term syphilis in your body

Has syphilis been in your body for a while? Then you could get these symptoms:

• Rash: spots on your whole body, especially on your hands and feet. View an example of rash caused by syphilis
• Flu, headache, sore throat, feeling tired

These symptoms can also appear together with the first symptoms.

Serious symptoms

Did you not get medicated against syphilis? Then you could get serious symptoms:

• Hair loss, bald spots on your scalp
• Eye complaints and vision problems
• Problems with hearing

After years, syphilis can even damage your heart, brain, spinal cord, and bones.

It can take 2-30 years before you get these symptoms. Luckily, this almost never happens in the Netherlands.

Other symptoms?

Do you have other symptoms? They could be caused by something else. So it’s important to go to your GP or to the GGD. Don’t wait too long and make an appointment.

Check out the symptoms of other STDs

Getting tested for syphilis

If you have various sex partners, you should get tested for HIV and STDs 2 times a year. You should also do this if your partner has various sex partners.

You should absolutely get tested for syphilis in these cases:

• If you have symptoms that could be caused by syphilis: a rash or a small ulcer on your penis, on your anus, or in your mouth
• If you had sex with someone who has syphilis

Where can you get tested?

You can arrange a syphilis test with your GP, at the GGD or with Testlab. With Testlab you can easily arrange an STD test online. Do you have symptoms? Then make an appointment with your GP or the GGD.

How is a test done?

A syphilis test goes like this:

• Do you not have symptoms? If so, the doctor will take a blood sample from your arm
• Do you have ulcers? Then the doctor will also use a cotton bud to take a sample from an ulcer. This is called a swab test

The test results will be ready within a week.

Treating syphilis

To get treated for syphilis you usually get a shot.

• If you get treated soon enough, one treatment is enough. After treatment, your blood will be examined often to make sure that the STD has left your body
• Did you get syphilis a long time ago? Then you will get 3 shots. Each with a 1-week break in between
• The sooner you start treatment, the better. This way you can avoid the worst symptoms

You cannot have sex during the treatment and for 7 days after. Do you still have symptoms after treatment? Then make an appointment with your doctor.

The treatment doesn’t prevent you from getting syphilis again in the future. You can always get syphilis again.

Preventing syphilis

Always use a condom during sex. This will greatly reduce your chance of getting or passing on syphilis. 

Unfortunately, condoms do not offer complete protection against syphilis. This is because ulcers can also be found on spots that are not covered by condoms. So you could still pass on the STD.