For the study, researchers collected 70 clinical and laboratory samples of syphilis, yaws and bejel infections from 13 countries. Bejel and yaws are in the same bacterial family as syphilis and have similar clinical manifestations. By using genomic data, researchers were able to reconstruct a phylogenetic tree showing a clear separation between the genetic lineage of modern syphilis infections and its bacterial counterparts bejel and yaws.
While modern syphilis infections have displayed resistance to azithromycin, a common treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, it has not yet displayed resistance to penicillin. The researchers suggested their findings call for extensive studies on the contemporary, pandemic syphilis strain.
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