What syphilis was called before it was called syphilis

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection provoked by the bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. But this infection may also be transmitted from mother to baby during pregnancy.

In 2015, approximately 45.4 million people had syphilis disease, of which 6 million were recent cases. In 2015, syphilis caused about 107 thousand deaths, down from 202 thousand in 1990. After declining with the availability of penicillin in the 1940s, infection rates have risen since the turn of the millennium in many nations, often in combination with the human immunodeficiency virus, partially because of boosted sexual activity and prostitution and decreased use of condoms.

There are 4 stages of syphilis (primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary). Each stage has specific signs and symptoms.

The first registered outbreak of syphilis in Europe happened in 1494-1495 in Naples, Italy, during a French invasion. Because it was transmitted by returning French army, the disease was known as “French disease,” and it was not until 1530 that the term “syphilis” was first used by the Italian physician Girolamo Fracastoro. The causative organism, Treponema pallidum, was first determined by Fritz Schaudinn and Erich Hoffmann in 1905.

Below is the map created by Reddit user masiakasaurus, which shows what syphilis was called before it was called syphilis.

The history of syphilis infection has been well-researched, but the precise origin of the disease remains unidentified. There are two primary hypotheses. According to the first hypothesis, syphilis was brought to the European continent from the Americas by the crew of Christopher Columbus.

In the Yucatan Peninsula, a skeleton dating over 9.9 thousand years ago of a 30-year-old woman with Treponema peritonitis was found.

According to the second hypothesis, syphilis existed earlier in Europe but went unnoticed.