CORRESPONDENCE

Commentary on: The Syphilis Pandemic Prior to Penicillin: Origin, Health Issues, Cultural Representation, and Ethical Challenges

Dan DANIELSSON

Department of Clinical Microbiology and Immunology, Division of Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital, Örebro, Sweden. E-mail: dan.g.danielsson@telia.com

 

 

The excellent review of the pandemic disease brought to Europe by Columbus at the end of the 15^th century brings into question the nature of the microbes (1).

Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) has revolutionized Treponema pallidum research. WGS has also been combined with paleopathology and recently broadened and deepened by the development and applications of paleogenomics. The recent retrieval of ancient syphilis and yaws/bejel genomes indicate that they are old diseases, spreading in Europe before contacts with the New World (2). Circumstantial evidence in historic contextual perspectives further showed that the crew members of Columbus brought a highly contagious and virulent yaws/bejel treponematosis to Europe – recognized as the French sickness or the Pox – and that this became a very important contributor to the rampant onslaught of the late 15^th century epidemic (2), by posterity considered as the first syphilis pandemic (1).

REFERENCES

1. Ekselius L, Gerdin B, Vahlquist A. The syphilis pandemic prior to penicillin: origin, health issues, cultural representation and ethical challenges. Acta Derm Venereol 2024; 104: adv34879. https://doi.org/10.2340/actadv.v104.34879
2. Danielsson D. Syphilis and the Columbian myth: brief medical history of treponematoses with pathogenetics, evolution and paleogenomics. 2023. Örebro: Örebro University Press, 2024.

 

We appreciate the thoughtful and knowledgeable comments by Dr Danielsson.

Anders Vahlquist, on behalf of all authors.