Talk:Syphilis

"Tonsillitis secondary syphilis" listed at Redirects for discussion

The redirect Tonsillitis secondary syphilis has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2025 October 20 § Tonsillitis secondary syphilis until a consensus is reached. —Myceteae‍🍄‍🟫‍(talk) 01:13, 20 October 2025 (UTC)

Proposed addition to Epidemiology section (COI request) - December 11, 2025

Hello, I have a conflict of interest as an employee of Truveta and therefore will not edit the article directly. I am requesting an independent editor’s review.

I propose adding a sentence summarizing a 2025 peer-reviewed study of syphilis incidence trends in the United States. The study does not evaluate Truveta itself; it uses real-world electronic health record data from multiple U.S. health systems that contribute data to Truveta. The results provide updated epidemiologic information consistent with the scope of the existing Epidemiology section.

Proposed sentence:

A 2025 cohort study using electronic health record data from multiple U.S. health systems contributing data to Truveta found that syphilis incidence among adults more than tripled between 2017 and mid-2022 before declining through late 2024, with declines concentrated in groups historically experiencing higher incidence (such as men, younger adults, individuals living with HIV, and individuals using HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis) and rising incidence among populations without documented traditional STI risk factors.

I suggest placing this sentence in the Epidemiology section, immediately after the existing discussion of rising U.S. syphilis rates in the 2000s–2020s.

Thank you for your consideration.

Lyolek25 (talk) 21:13, 11 December 2025 (UTC)

Not done: This is promotional closhund/talk/ 08:53, 25 December 2025 (UTC)

What if it's re-written to say this:

A cohort study using de-identified electronic health record data from multiple U.S. health systems reported that adult syphilis incidence rose substantially from 2017 through 2022 and then declined through 2024, with trends varying across demographic and clinical subgroups. Lyolek25 (talk) 22:37, 20 January 2026 (UTC)

Proposed correction to mortality statistics

The epidemiology section of this article claims an 8% to 58% untreated mortality rate, cited to a paper, however, upon double-checking, I noticed the 58% figure is not a mortality rate for syphilis, but rather the rate for autopsies where syphilis was the primary cause of death among patients who "had clinical, serological, or autopsy evidence of syphilis." The paper only has two mortality rate figures, 8% for females, and 17% for males. Apocalyte (talk) 04:17, 10 March 2026 (UTC)

== The Origin of Syphilis ==

Syphilis was never documented in Europe before the conquest of Latin America by Cortez and other conquistadors. The contraction of syphilis might have something to do with the pillaging of the Aztec people, it could be considered the equivalent of the white man’s smallpox. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3956094/ Syphilis could be considered one of the most deadly diseases of the time and was responsible for killing of a catastrophic amount of the European population in the 1500s. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0738081X23002559 However, recent research has brought to light that a syphilis-like disease was already circulating about Southeast Asia some 4,000 years ago https://phys.org/news/2026-03-ancient-syphilis-disease-vietnam-held.html. However, we can safely assume the Americas are the origin point of syphilis. As it was altogether unknown to Europe, until the exploration of the Americas had begun. Lark Tergeson (talk) 00:41, 13 April 2026 (UTC)

@Lark Tergeson, by the end of the week, you should be cleared to edit the article directly. WhatamIdoing (talk) 02:01, 13 April 2026 (UTC)

Excellent! Lark Tergeson (talk) 14:21, 13 April 2026 (UTC)