Ocular Syphilis Symptoms As STD Epidemic Causes Eye Problems

One woman’s eyesight was so blurry she feared she was going blind. Another reported double vision that lasted for weeks. Yet another complained of floaters. In all, five women who lived in different parts of southwest Michigan suddenly sought help for serious eye problems within weeks of each other. The medical mystery led to a startling diagnosis: All of the patients had ocular syphilis, a complication of the sexually transmitted disease. The cluster of cases shared a common link.

The illness can lie hidden in the body only to cause symptoms later in time, so it’s often not caught early and people don’t realize that they have it, he adds. Some of his patients had no idea they were infected until they sought help for eye problems. “We often call syphilis the great imitator because it looks like many other things,” says Khurana, who is ophthalmologist at Northern California Retina Vitreous Associates.

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