title: [Treponema pallidum or Spirochaeta pallida?].
abstract: First Schaudinn and Hoffmann named the causative organism of syphilis Spirochaeta pallida. Short time later Schaudinn proposed the name Treponema. He mentioned it in a letter of October 14, 1905 to Hoffmann. He supposed that this germ may be a flagellate. This was not correct. The electron-microscopic investigations revealed that this idea did not concur. Therefore it is better to call them Spirochaeta pallida and not Treponema pallidum any more.
mesh_terms: D005858:Germany; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008829:Microbiology / Q000266:history; D013587:Syphilis / Q000266:history*; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000145:classification*
vernacular_title: Treponema pallidum oder Spirochaeta pallida?