This disease received its current name from the titular character of a 16th century poem by Italian physician Girolamo Fracastoro in which Apollo punishes a shepherd for his impudence.
This disease received its current name from the titular character of a 16th century poem by Italian physician Girolamo Fracastoro in which Apollo punishes a shepherd for his impudence. Caused by the T. pallidum spirochete bacterium, it was once treated with mercury and arsenic. Modern cures still primarily involve penicillin, despite increases in antibiotic-resistant strains of the bacterium. This disease was first seen on a major scale during a 1494 epidemic in a French army campaigning in Naples, so it is variably called the "French Disease" or the "Neapolitan Disease." Untreated, this disease causes neurological damage that eventually leads to death. FTP, name this sexually transmitted disease, often called the "great imitator" because its symptoms closely resemble other afflictions.
This disease received its current name from the titular character of a 16th century poem by Italian physician Girolamo Fracastoro in which Apollo punishes a shepherd for his impudence.
{Syphilis}