[1023] Syphilis

One of the most rich and interdisciplinary fields in dermatology is venereology. Sexually transmitted bacterial infections such as Chlamydia trachomatis, gonorrhea, Mycoplasma sp, and syphilis infection with Treponema pallidum are increasing worldwide, and their treatment is becoming a challenge in the face of antibiotic resistance. HIV infection and AIDS also represent a broad field for our research.

Syphilis has been known for 500 years. Despite its miraculous treatment with penicillin in the 1950s, the infection is re-emerging. The Swiss national fund project sinergia 2020-2024 "An interdisciplinary model to explain never-ending infectious diseases. The case of syphilis (1859 to the present)" was thus born Neverending Infectious Diseases. This Franco-Swiss project has made it possible to demonstrate the hidden aspects of syphilis and the complexity of the psychological mechanisms impacting prevention. We also validated a new cerebrospinal fluid biomarker in the context of neurosyphilis and we showed the factors that still make it possible for newborns to be born with congenital syphilis today in wealthy countries.

Our research group promotes interaction between biomedical disciplines and the humanities. This has led us to better investigate our hospital and university resources, such as archives and biobanks. The Archimed project is evaluating the value of digitising medical records and histological slides located in the Geneva brain bank in order to enhance their value through artificial intelligence algorithms. Several areas are under development, enabling the detection of inflammatory areas in neurosyphilis, the detection of Treponema pallidum and its genome, the study of the influence of anti-infective treatment. An exposomic understanding of the disease is shown. This translational research provides access to large volumes of data and also opens up new physio-pathological knowledge.