Malignant syphilis in an HIV infected female patient

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease by the spirochetal bacterium Treponema pallidum. The route of transmission of syphilis is almost always sexual contact, although there are examples of congenital syphilis via transmission from mother to child in utero (1). The course of disease is composed of primary, secondary, latent, tertiary and neurosyphilis (2). Primary syphilis occurs approximately 10–90 days after the initial exposure (average 21 days). A skin lesion (chancre) appears at the point of contact, which is usually the genital organs, but can be anywhere on the body.