The doctors suggested that the immune systems of these 4 subjects could not contain the infection. In 6 subjects analysis of CSF sarnples revealed high levels of white blood cells-suggesting continued infection. By the sixth month she developed more symptoms such as headaches and she had difficulty controlling muscles on the right side of her body. High levels of white blood cells in the CSF samples from these HIV-infected subjects suggested that T. pallidum infection continued. Doctors are not sure what to do for such patients.
Some doctors wait several months to see if the level of white blood cells in the CSF falls.
It may take between 6 and 12 months for this to happen. Despite increasing the dose of penicillin, T. pallidum infection seemed to get out of control suggesting that this microbe is resistant to penicillin. It is not always clear which patients will recover. The doctors in this study state that other anti- syphilis therapies need to be tested. Gordon SM, Eaton ME, George R, et al.