Syphilis is a disease which is sexually transmitted; it can lead to a number of health problems as it is very infectious. ‘Treponema Pallidum’ is the bacteria which causes syphilis. Both men and women are prone to this disease.

There are four stages of Syphilis; these stages are classified according to the harshness of the indication of the disease. They stages are:

The Primary Stage: This is the first stage, that is the start of the disease, this when an ulcer or a sore starts to appear around the genital parts, the mouth or the anus. This initial ulcer appears on the perineum, vulva or the cervix in case of women and in men it appears on the penis or the scrotum.

This ulcer often does not bring about any pain. It can be seen clearly in about three to four weeks after the infection. If treatment is done at this stage, the recovery is faster, and the sufferer is back to normal in about a month’s time.

The Secondary Stage: At this point of time the infection would spread to the whole body. A rash on the skin which is red in colour would appear on the feet or the palms; this is the indication that the infection that reached the next stage. In the stage the sufferer might also have loss of hair, fatigue, inflamed lymph nodes and headache. Many ulcers would appear in the mouth and the throat.

The muscles and the liver will also be affected. At this stage, the disease is very infectious. In case, the sufferer is not treated in time, he or she would definitely start facing the symptoms of the next stage.

The Latent Stage: The start of this stage is when the indications of the pervious stage start to diminish. This syphilis comes in two parts that is ‘early and late’. In the early stage there are no indications of syphilis, whereas the infection is already present in the body of the sufferer, but the disease at this point is highly transmittable as such sexually activities should be avoided.

However, in the later stage of latent syphilis, the microbes are not infectious and also not transmitted through sexual activities.

The Tertiary Stage: This stage is the last and highly perilous stage. This stage would take a very long time that is even a few years to come to light after the infection takes place. The microbes start multiplying in this stage and in turn start damaging the organs in the body, like the bones, brain, eyes, joints, nervous system and the heart. These microbes, within the body could even form tumours.

This in turn would cause cancerous developments in the skin, bone or other tissues. There could also be a development of ‘Aortic Aneurysum’ which is a cardiovascular problem. In a few cases where the sufferer has reached the extreme levels, there would even be weight loss. The harm which the body faces is irretrievable; therefore it is advised that treatment should be taken in the third stage of the disease.

An infection which is instigated by the ‘Herpes Simplex Virus’ is called the Oral Herpes, the medical name being ‘Herpes Labialis’. This condition causes outbreak of painful and tiny sores around the mouth, gums, and lips and also on the sides of the mouth. These sores are called ‘fever blisters’ or ‘cold sores’.

Oral Herpes Simplex is a very widespread disease which is brought about due to the infection of the area around the mouth due to ‘herpes simplex virus’, which is usually Type 1.

At the start there would be no indications or ulcers. The infection stays in the nerve tissue present in the face. In a few cases, the infection reactivates and creates persistent cold sores which are generally around the same spot, but would not be severe. ‘Herpes Virus Type 2′ brings about genital herpes and also a virus to the babies at the time of birth, but it could also bring about ‘Herpes “labialis’.

The infection of herpes is very contagious. There could be either direct contact or even through towels, infected razors, dishes or any other objects which would be shared. In a few cases, ‘Oral to Genital’ or the other way round also could bring about oral herpes. This is the reason oral sex should not be practised by people with present herpes ulcers either inside or around the area of the mouth or even the genitals. Recurrence of the infection is not much, but it is instigated by stress, menstruation, fever, exposure to the sun and even a few unknown reasons.

Symptoms:

The initial symptoms generally start showing in about one to two weeks in a few cases three weeks, after being infected. The sores of the infection generally remain for about seven to ten days, after that start to settle down.

About a day or two before the sore appears, indications like burning, itching, tingling feel or augmented sensitivity start to show. The various symptoms of oral herpes are: slight fever, sores which are painful on slightly elevated and red area, sores which appear, burst and leak, sores on the skin around the gums, mouth and lips, many tiny sores which appear to create a bigger blister and yellow outer layers which swamp to show pink, remedial skin.

Treatments:

Tests like ‘Tzanck test’ and ‘Viral Culture’ are conducted when a sore appears; these tests determine the presence of oral herpes. If the indications are left untreated, the infection takes about a week or two to get back to normal. In case of intake of antiviral medications taken orally, the recovery would be faster and even the pain would be less.

The sores should be washed lightly with water and soap, in order to avoid the infection from spreading to other areas of the skin. The sufferer would be advised to use an antiseptic soap. To ease the pain of the blisters fermentation with ice or warm packs to the infected area is advised. Precautions should be taken in order to avoid other areas of the skin from getting infected.

MRSA is methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, a mutated form of staph bacteria that is able to endure the curative abilities of medication such as antibiotics. The mutation was caused both by misuse and overuse of antibiotics resulting in a strain of the bacteria able to proliferate and eventually create infections and complications unabated.

Initially, it was penicillin that was able to cure staph infections but as time passed on, together with the misuse and overuse, the bacteria was able to develop resistance against penicillin. Then there was methicillin to which the bacteria was also able to develop a resistance. Now, one of the few antibiotics able to counteract the effects of MRSA is vancomycin but there are the complications?from ongoing antibiotic treatment.

The Effects of Antibiotic Treatment

There is a growing misconception as to antibiotics in general. Antibiotics, by themselves, do not cure infection. These types of medication do not kill the bacteria or contaminant. It does not have the ability to identify dangerous and foreign elements in the body and take action to neutralize them. The body’s immune system is the one with both the capacity and ability to do this. What the antibiotic does though is supports the body’s own immune system to be better able the increased activity of viral antigens or bacteria in the body. The antibiotic stimulates the creation of more immune agents in the body to enable it to combat and effectively kill off the bacterial infection.

Thus the misuse and overuse of antibiotics creates an occasion that the body has a higher tolerance for antibiotic agents. With the greater amount of antibiotic medication present, the body adjusts itself to accommodate the chemical change. As one stops taking antibiotics, the bacteria that was not destroyed is able to flourish, assimilating itself to the environment of higher tolerance to the chemicals brought about by the antibiotic overuse or misuse. This is one of the complications from ongoing antibiotic treatment and how antibiotic resistant bacteria are created, like the dreaded MRSA. ? The Complications Identified ? The greatest complication from ongoing antibiotic treatment has been identified, that is the creation of “superbugs”. Here are some other complications from ongoing antibiotic treatment. ?

• Contraction of clostridium difficile, or C-Diff. This new bacteria is well known in the community as a result of antibiotic therapy. Often it presents itself as a form of intestinal flu resulting in diarrhea that is hard to cure.
• Some types of antibiotics, such as Vancomycin is effective against staph infection but there is already growing concern that the drug creates Vancomycin resistant intestinal flora which creates infections of the gastrointestinal tract.
• The use of the antibiotic Linezolid or Zyvox has been found to have a significant effect on the bone marrow. The drug, when used long term, has been seen to cause anemia, low white blood cell count, low platelet counts or even lead to a decreased production of the cell products of the bone marrow.

To better understand what you are up against in MRSA and in order to find out the complications from ongoing antibiotic treatments prescribed you.