‘Check palms and soles’, warns doctor on secondary syphilis
An Australian sexual health expert has shared a recent case to alert GP to the subtle signs of second-stage disease
An Australian sexual health expert is urging GPs to watch for subtle signs of secondary syphilis, after reporting the case of a patient who missed the tell-tale lesions on his hands and feet.
Dr Yasmin Hughes, from the Western Sydney Sexual Health Centre, says the 30-year-old man from Papua New Guinea presented with a two-week history of non-pruritic scrotal rash.
The man, who had a history of IV drug use and imprisonment, denied any related genitourinary, dermatological or systemic symptoms, she wrote in BMJ Case Reports.
His sexual history revealed an episode of unprotected anal sex with a casual male partner five months prior to his presentation and four male partners in the preceding 12 months.
