Can Syphilis so cripple the immune system such that it cannot muster
a 'defense' reaction/antibody response?
I was speaking to a homosexual man who told me that his partner was
being treated for Syphilis and had indeed had a 'positive' blood test
for antibodies to the disease. This man, however, had no
such 'positive' blood test until he had taken a course of antibiotics
for an infected tooth. Oddly enough, shortly thereafter, he
tested 'positive' for Syphilis. This leads me to think that in
taking the antibiotics, this man's immune system recovered enough
from being overwhelmed by the disease, to muster somekind of antibody
response.
It is a mistake then to assume that because one does not register
a 'positive' for Syphilis that this means that one is 'free of
disease.' Do they even teach this in medical school????!!!
Here's something else no one ever hears about now in this:
SYPHILIS SHOCKER
Sobering quotes
---------------
Quote:"In spite of 400 years of study, we still do not know the actual importance of syphilis as a cause of death. To what extent does death directly from syphilis masquerade under other diagnoses: or to what extent is syphilis an indirect cause of death from other conditions? Is it justifiable to assume, as did Osler, that syphilis actually ranks first, instead of its apparent tenth, among killing infections?"
-Joseph Earle Moore, 1939
"Within 2 years after infection, untreated syphilis produces immune changes in the host which, with rare exceptions, are permanent and make it impossible for tissues to react to subsequent infection with development of early syphilitic lesions."
-Evan W. Thomas, 1949
"Far from eradicating syphilis, antibiotics are driving the disease underground and increasing the difficulty of detection. Although the incidence of disease has more than tripled since 1955, the chancre and secondary rash no longer are commonly seen. Undoubtedly, some of these lesions are being suppressed and the disease masked by the indiscriminate use of antibiotics. The ominous prospect of a widespread resurgence of the disease in its tertiary forms looms ahead."
-Pereyra, A.J. et al., 1970
"A substantial proportion of HIV-infected men may have unrecognized, latent, inadequately treated syphilis. These findings support more aggressive treatment of T. pallidum infection in this patient population."
-Daniel M. Musher, et al., 1990
"The clinical manifestations of syphilis, which have taken various forms over the centuries, have now been transformed to mimic the appearance of the opportunistic infections and cancers that may accompany HIV infection, as well as the clinical symptoms of AIDS itself."
-Sandra A. Larsen, former Chief of Treponemal Research, Centers for Disease Control, 1991
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