title: History of syphilis: between poetry and medicine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The origin of syphilis is a matter of debate and two "historical" hypotheses explain its emergence.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We present here a review about syphilis history.
  
  
  METHODS
  A review of literature about syphilis history using the following keywords: "syphilis," "history," and "treponema."
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Columbian opinion is that syphilis came from the New World (America) with the crews of Christopher Columbus's fleet. As Naples fell before the invading army of Charles the VIII in 1495, a plague broke out among the French leader's troops. When the army disbanded shortly after the campaign, the troops, composed largely of mercenaries, returned to their homes and disseminated the disease across Europe. Indeed, there were reports that indigenous peoples of the New World suffered from a similar condition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Regardless of the Columbian and the Pre-Columbian theories, syphilis remains an international disease, growing nowadays with HIV infection. Despite history, politics, paleopathology and molecular approaches, the origin of the disease remains an enigma.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine of Saint Joseph University, Hôtel-Dieu de France University Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Ismael
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Maatouk
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moutran
mesh_terms: D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000266:history; D011037:Poetry as Topic / Q000266:history; D013587:Syphilis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history*; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010128:p-Aminoazobenzene / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000266:history / Q000627:therapeutic use; D044482:Benzeneacetamides
chemical_list: D010128:p-Aminoazobenzene; C003359:sulfamidochrysoidine; D044482:Benzeneacetamides
keywords: History; Modern Risk Factors; Syphilis; Treponema Pallidum