Syphilis is sometimes referred to as “the great imitator” sometimes since its early symptoms are similar to indistinguishable from many other diseases. Since syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease people who are sexually active should consult a doctor or other health care worker if they notice any rash or sore in their genital area. People those who have been treated for other STDs, such as genital warts, herpes or gonorrhea, should be test to confirm that they don’t also have the syphilis infection. Though syphilis can be detected by its symptoms, but since its symptoms are indistinguishable from other disease it becomes difficult to diagnose the disease from its symptoms. Diagnosis and confirmation can only be done by certain tests at the laboratory.

There are 3 ways for the diagnosis of the syphilis.

* Recognizing the signs and symptoms
* Examining blood samples
* Identifying syphilis bacteria under a microscope

The doctor generally uses all these methods for diagnosing syphilis and decides upon the stage of bacterial infection. The first steps in diagnosis of syphilis are discussing the history of the symptoms and sexual activities of the patient by a health professional and having a physical examination. Some health care providers perform syphilis diagnosis by examining sample from a chancre or the infectious sore by means of a special microscope called a dark-field microscope. When observed through the microscope, if the infection is present in the chancre or sore then the syphilis bacteria will show up

A blood test is one of the methods to determine whether a person has syphilis infection or not. Shortly after a person is infected with syphilis bacteria, detection of the disease can be done by the antibodies that the body produces by a precise, safe, and low-cost blood test.

What is Syphilis? What are the symptoms of Syphilis? Diagnosis of Syphilis Treatment of Syphilis

There are several blood tests options available and generally one of several blood tests is done for the confirmation of the infection. Though Blood tests provide confirmation of infection they may sometimes give false-negative results and may not show signs of an infection even if the infection is present. This may happen for up to 3 months after infection. False-positive results may also occur where the tests may show signs of an infection when it is not present. Hence, two blood tests are generally done for diagnosis. Analysis of blood tests for syphilis infection can be difficult. Repeated tests are sometimes done and are necessary to confirm the diagnosis. Even after the disease has been successfully treated, for months or years a low level of antibodies is likely to stay in the body.

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