Students' answers should include the following:
a. Organism is the Treponema pallidum.
Three distinct stages are left untreated: primary, secondary, and tertiary.
Infectious during primary and secondary
In tertiary stage, client is demented and will die from organ shutdown.
b. Penicillin G treats primary and secondary syphilis; tertiary, three doses required a week apart unless there is cardiovascular involvement.
c. Chancre appears in primary stage on anus, penis, cervix, or other parts of body.
Chancre resembles small papule, and then ulcerates, heals, and progresses to secondary stage if not treated.
Tabes dorsalis, neuropathic joints (Charcot's joints), and cardiovascular complications
d. Teach about early treatment, good sex practice, and abstinence.
Spread from blood, lesion on infected person, or across placenta to an unborn infant
May affect client later in life