Hope for new antibiotics for syphilis treatment

Abstract

Syphilis is a multi-stage disease caused by infection with Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum (T. pallidum). Syphilis is usually transmitted by contact with an infected sexual partner or by passage from an infected pregnant woman to her fetus (congenital syphilis). Globally, an estimated six million new cases of syphilis occur each year in persons aged 15–49 years. In 2016, 661,000 cases of congenital syphilis resulted in over 200,000 fetal and neonatal deaths [1].