CHECK Berlin / Brandenburg #5

SEXUAL HEALTH
ENGLISH
SYPHILIS
THE PLEASURE PLAGUE
THEN AND NOW
“Syphilis“... Upon hearing the name, you quickly think of medieval cities with catastrophic
sanitary conditions, cheap Victorian brothels in seedy harbor districts and wild
debauched courtly merrymaking.
This disease evokes a mixture of wicked horror
from these pre-hygienic conditions and the
secret wish to have been at such feasts. It
has even been immortalized in famous works
of art and literature. Once it was even said
that syphilis increased libido and expanded
consciousness.
It was the disease of the aristocracy, the
geniuses and the madmen, the artists and
thinkers of bygone days, in times lacking
knowledge of medical contexts and without
today‘s moral concepts. A disease carried by
unbridled lust.
Do you see yourself stumbling into the next
tavern with a mighty thirst after a long year at
sea? Or stumbling down the steps with a powdered
wig wrapped in brocades...? Maybe not
quite, but syphilis is sure making a comeback.
A SUCCESSFUL COMEBACK
Syphilis is a highly contagious infectious
disease transmitted by bacteria, the effects
of which range from painful ulcers to organ
damage and the destruction of the central
nervous system.
Also known as lues venerea (disaster of lust
for love) or Schaudinn‘s disease, in most cases
the disease is transmitted through contact
with the mucous membrane during unprotected
sexual intercourse. Thus, syphilis is a
sexually transmitted disease (STD). A group of
diseases that is currently making an unfortunately
little noticed but very successful
comeback. In the case of an infection, one
must notify the health department, but this
is registered anonymously. And there is no
evidence of increased libido or consciousness.
The development of powerful antibiotics, such
as penicillin, was able to curb the spread of
many diseases in the 20th century. Some even
disappeared almost completely in the western
world, such as the plague, cholera, leprosy,
typhus or tuberculosis.
Since the 1990s, many of them, including
syphilis, have been on the rise again. And
infections have even risen sharply in industrialized
nations since the 2010s.
According to figures from the now well-known
Robert Koch Institute, the reported cases rose
from 2742 in 2009 to 7889 in 2019. Quite impressive
for an „extinct“ disease.
Anyone who hears the name „syphilis“ should
not think of the old Giacomo Casanova, but of
their last sexual contacts.
OVER 80% OF KNOWN INFECTIONS
OCCUR IN HOMOSEXUAL MEN
Treponema pallidum, the bacterium responsible
for syphilis, is only transmitted from
person to person and can only survive outside
92 CHECK BERLIN/BRANDENBURG #5