History of syphilis

The first recorded outbreak of <a href="/facts/Syphilis/fdnGLyLT">syphilis</a> in Europe occurred in 1494/1495 in <a href="/facts/Naples/SXrFcg2C">Naples, Italy</a>, during a French invasion. Because it was spread geographically by French troops returning from that campaign, the disease was known as "French disease", and it was not until 1530 that the term "syphilis" was first applied by the Italian physician and poet <a href="/facts/Girolamo_Fracastoro/tF8SfRzv">Girolamo Fracastoro</a>. The causative organism, <a href="/facts/Treponema_pallidum/33nBmQTg">Treponema pallidum</a>, was first identified by <a href="/facts/Fritz_Schaudinn/pV4wvhua">Fritz Schaudinn</a> and <a href="/facts/Erich_Hoffmann/TJG8exPt">Erich Hoffmann</a> in 1905 at the <a href="/facts/Charit%25C3%25A9/N7CFWueP">Charité</a> Clinic in <a href="/facts/Berlin/pMTIRNXK">Berlin</a>. The first effective treatment, <a href="/facts/Salvarsan/KehAqjeq">Salvarsan</a>, was developed in 1910 by <a href="/facts/Sahachiro_Hata/CqTzREFJ">Sahachiro Hata</a> in the laboratory of <a href="/facts/Paul_Ehrlich/6XM57Clc">Paul Ehrlich</a>. It was followed by the introduction of <a href="/facts/Penicillin/Abo8VQ3p">penicillin</a> in 1943.
Many well-known figures, including <a href="/facts/Scott_Joplin/qa4wXpr8">Scott Joplin</a>, <a href="/facts/Franz_Schubert/M5UAjUp7">Franz Schubert</a>, <a href="/facts/Friedrich_Nietzsche/u7VdQ5sg">Friedrich Nietzsche</a>, <a href="/facts/Al_Capone/YspLttMe">Al Capone</a>, and <a href="/facts/%25C3%2589douard_Manet/DBUNSRLt">Édouard Manet</a> are believed to have contracted the disease.

History of syphilis open-in-new

History of syphilis