INTERVIEW
Syphilis is making a disturbing return to Europe. Some 33,000 new cases were recorded in 2017 on the continent, an increase of 70% compared to 2010, according to figures released on July 12 by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. And France is not spared: the number of cases has tripled since the early 2000s, with 1,748 new contaminations in 2017.
This sexually transmitted infection, which originates from a bacterium called Treponema palladium, was devastating before the appearance of antibiotics. At the microphone of Pierre de Vilno, on Europe 1, andrologist Jean-Marc Bohbot, specialist in uro-genital infections and medical director at the Institut Fournier in Paris, explains why this disease that killed Charles Baudelaire, Guy de Maupassant or again Alphonse Daudet, is progressing again at a time when access to treatment has never been easier.
Why do we tend to think of syphilis as a disease of another age?
"All sexually transmitted diseases have been increasing in recent years, and it was thought that syphilis, which was a little forgotten because it was called 'old' - the first description dates back to the 15th century - had been curbed. to say that there are antibiotic treatments that work very well.And then, it is a disease that does not make the news: we talk about chlamydia and gonococci, but syphilis, we do not talk much. "
We would die in the 19th century, now it is treated. But how to recognize it?
"Syphilis is serious when it is not detected and it evolves for years and years, fortunately, in most cases, it can be detected in time.The first symptom is a chancre, genital lesion, which is annoying because it is often internal to women and homosexual men when it is anal. The patient is unlikely to detect it, this wound heals spontaneously in a few weeks, and then the bacteria that causes syphilis invade the body, at which time we will have an eruption all over the body. "
What to do with the slightest suspicion of symptoms?
"It is obvious that from the moment we have the slightest lesion on the genitals, even if it does not hurt, we should not put any cream.We go directly to see his doctor to be done A blood test makes it possible to make a diagnosis and to put in place a very simple treatment: syphilis is treated with a penicillin bite, up to three when one is at a slightly advanced stage. penicillin can take tablets of another antibiotic.The treatment will be a little longer but also effective.In pregnant women, syphilis can be transmitted to the child, in the womb of the mother.But if it is detected at time, the treatment of the mother will cure the child.Now, screenings are practically systematic in maternity.
How can one protect oneself from syphilis?
"With the use of condoms, even if this increase in STIs (sexually transmitted infections) is older, with the use of Prep, the famous anti-viral treatment that prevents HIV, and no offense to some associations, We are witnessing a condom abandonment.These patients are screened, of course, but unfortunately, they no longer protect themselves.The condom must be rehabilitated, because behind the syphilis, hides a much more serious epidemic, which is in the process of Papillomavirus is starting to kill much more than AIDS, and HPV is responsible for cervical cancer, oropharyngeal cancer and rectal cancer. classic tests, it may appear years after a complication.The Prep yes, the condom surely! "