Various / 2008-11-18 00:00:00
The individuality and characteristics of the syphilis microbe were not
positively determined until in 1905, Schaudinn, of Germany, convinced the
medical world that it was a spiral, corkscrew-like organism, from a
quarter to one millimeter in thickness, and from four to twelve
millimeters in length. It is not so discriminating as the gonococcus in
its points of inoculation, nor is it as vulnerable to attack; and it is
vastly more destructive to the tissues invaded. It spares no tissue in the
human frame, and resists destruction by any known drugs of vegetable
origin. When in a latent state its presence was often impossible to
determine until, two years after its discovery, a test was worked out by
Wasserman, also of Germany, by which diagnosis of the infection may be
made,--even in latent form,--as in a hereditary case where no clinical
manifestations have yet asserted themselves. There is another valuable
blood test worked out by Noguchi. With these two tests we are now able to
diagnose the disease, almost absolutely, and follow up the treatment till
cure is complete, except in some of the incurable brain and spinal cord
cases.
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