Syphilis is a chronic, degenerative, sexually transmitted disease. Highly contagious-- particularly during the early stages of its progression--syphilis can be cured in its primary and secondary stages with penicillin administered over a prolonged period, although treatment in the primary stage fails approximately two to 20% of the time. Left untreated, it continues, eventually causing serious damage to the nerves, brain, eyes, heart, and other organs. Although the incidence of syphilis has been reduced somewhat through education programs and medication, the incidence remains high and has risen dramatically in connection with the AIDS virus, making it a public health concern around the world.

Spread primarily by sexual contact, syphilis begins as a small, hard, painless sore, called a primary (or Hunter's) chancre, which disappears in one to five weeks after infection. Left untreated, the disease passes into the secondary stage, lodging in the lymph nodes. Within 6-12 weeks, discolored patches...