syphilis?

Why is the blood supply screened for syphilis? can you get syphilis from contact with infected blood during sexual activity, liek if someone with syphilis performs unprotected oral sex on a woman, can she get it that way?

[2terrified]

Absolutely if a sore is present in the mouth.  Are you asking why this is the way to test for syphilis or why it is required in some states?

[mani260]

sorry, I meant if a man who's bleeding from his mouth and has syphilis performs unprotected oral sex on an uninfected woman, can the woman get syphilis from the man that way?

[mani260]

I meant why is the blood supply required to test for syphilis? and I meant if a man who's bleeding from his mouth and has syphilis performs unprotected oral sex on an uninfected woman, can the woman get syphilis from the man that way?

[2terrified]

I do not know that much about syphilis.  Syphilis is passed only with contact with a syphilis sore.  So, if the man didn't have a sore in his mouth, then no.  It is tested by blood because antibodies show shortly after infection.  I got this info from the cdc.gov website.

[mani260]

are you definitely sure about this, or should i look it up? Because the blood supply IS tested for it, so i'm curious

[2terrified]

http://www.cdc.gov/std/Syphilis/STDFact-Syphilis.htm#spread

[mani260]

yes,. i read that too, but i also read somwhere else that it CAn be spread by fluids. Why is the blood supply for donating blood screened for syphilis?

[Vance2335]

I don't know why donated blood is screen for syphilis, I can only assume so the person who receives the blood will not test positive. Because one as you have syphilis it will always show in a blood test. And you will not actually test positive but it will show up that you had syphilis at one point but was treated. And I don't think they want to deal with that.
But it is only spread form direct contact with a sore.

[mani260]

Are you saying that if someone with syphilis donates blood, and then, the person receiving blood gets that blood from the infected person, that that recipient will then get syphilis? can you get syphilis from contact with infected blood during sexual activity, like if an infcted man is bleeding from his mouth, then performs unprotected oral sex on an uninfected woman, can the woman get syphilis from him that way?

Can syhpilis be spread through semen as well?

[Vance2335]

No you do not get syphilis from blood but the anti-bodies produced stays in the blood. So that is why a test would show syphilis but the number would be very low.

Read what I wrote my last sentence in my previous post tells you how you get syphilis. That is the only way.

[2terrified]

What is the other website?  You know, there is a movie (that turned out to be true...the gov't recently compensated people) about the gov't using african american men to study syphilis.  They were lied to for the experiments to be conducted.  I do not know the name of it, but I do know Alfre Woodard was in it.  Syphilis has been around for centuries.  I would think that the information given on a goverment website that regulates these things to be correct.  They might lie about not knowing of a cure, but I don't think they would withhold information about how they are spread.