Summary

First recorded in Europe in the late 1400s, syphilis quickly spread throughout the world. A disease that slowly kills its victims, syphilis allows them enough time to spread it to others. It was not until the 19th century that syphilis was realized to be a sexually transmitted disease. Because syphilis was poorly understood, it became the subject of many myths and misconceptions, and people who suffered from the disease were often stigmatized. Syphilis, Third Edition looks at the disease from historical and epidemiological perspectives, describing the discovery of the bacterium that causes syphilis as well as the medical advances that shed light on how the disease spread, how that spread could be prevented, and the development of effective treatments. 

Chapters include:

• The Disease Called Syphilis
• History and Folklore of Syphilis
• Syphilis: From Plague to STD
• Treponema: The Syphilis Organism
• Prevention and Treatment of Syphilis
• Epidemiology of Syphilis
• Syphilis in Contemporary Society
• A Case Study in Syphilis Research.

Specifications

eBook

About the Author(s)

Dr. Brian Shmaefsky is a professor of environmental science at Lone Star College-Kingwood near Houston, Texas, where he also chairs the Institutional Review Board for the college system. He completed his undergraduate studies in biology at Brooklyn College in New York and completed his graduate studies at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and the University of Illinois. His research emphasis is in environmental physiology. Dr. Shmaefsky has many publications on science education, some appearing in American Biology Teacher and the Journal of College Science Teaching. He also has written books and technical articles on biotechnology and human diseases.