[Characteristics of the course of latent forms of syphilis]

Seven patients with latent syphilis are described, in whom the routine serologic tests (RST) were negative during the first examination and over the course of therapy, and the specific tests (T. pallidum immobilization and immunofluorescence) were repeatedly positive before therapy. Early latent seropositive recurrent forms of syphilis were detected in the majority of these patients' sexual partners. The patients were not administered antisyphilis therapy before. The diagnosis of latent seronegative early syphilis negative in the RST is epidemiologically significant, for it helps timely carry out the necessary treatment and prophylaxis measures to prevent the disease dissemination.