I treated a patient who had a red syphilitic rash on his throat. Will I be affected?

Question

Hello doctor,

I am a dentist, and I had a patient with a secondary syphilis stage two days ago. I only saw it after the procedure that he is affected. What I did was merely an examination of his teeth, and no drilling, wind, etc. But I touched his saliva, and from what I understood later after seeing the diagnosis is, he had a red syphilitic rash on his throat. I was using nitrile gloves. What are the risk I could get from this infection?

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

Thank you for reaching out. I understand your concern. Based on what you presented, your risk is very low since you did not touch the lesion itself, and you were wearing gloves; therefore, there was no skin to skin contact. It is least likely you could have gotten syphilis based on the scenario you presented. I hope I was able to answer your concern. Is there anything else I can help you with?

Answer 2

Hi,

Welcome back to icliniq.com.

I understand your concern. Getting the infection requires direct skin to skin contact. Wearing gloves can prevent you from getting the disease. I hope I was able to answer your concern. Is there anything else I can help you with?