Neurosyphilis

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Central nervous system

Penicillin is used to treat neurosyphilis. The medicine may be given in various ways.

It may be injected into a vein every day for 10 days, then given into a muscle once a week for 3 weeks.

Or, your may need to take penicillin by mouth 4 times a day, combined with muscle injections -- both for 10 days -- and then taken another form of penicillin injected into a muscle for 3 weeks.

You must have follow-up blood tests at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months to make sure the infection is gone.

For information on treating syphilis, see the following articles:

• Syphilis
• Primary syphilis
• Secondary syphilis
• Tertiary syphilis

How well a person does depends on the severity of neurosyphilis before receiving treatment.

The symptoms can get slowly worse.

Call for an appointment with your health care provider if you have had syphilis in the past and now have signs of neurological problems.

Review Date: 03/05/2007
Reviewed By: Daniel Kantor, M.D., Director of the Comprehensive MS Center, Neuroscience Institute, University of Florida Health Science Center, Jacksonville, FL. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.