In this episode of “Answers From the Lab,” host Bobbi Pritt, M.D., chair of the Division of Clinical Microbiology at Mayo Clinic, is joined by Elitza Theel, Ph.D., director of the Infectious Diseases Serology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, to talk about the sexually-transmitted disease syphilis. 

Specific topics of discussion include:

• The history, cause, and symptoms of syphilis.
• A rare recent outbreak of ocular syphilis cases.
• The dramatic rise in syphilis and congenital syphilis cases in the United States over the last few years.
• The variety of syphilis testing options.