Simultaneous Primary and Secondary Syphilis Associated with Syphilitic Alopecia and Folliculitis in an HIV Positive Patient

Syphilis has been classically divided into three clinical stages. The chancre that appears at the site of inoculation is referred to as the primary stage. The secondary stage is characterized by systemic involvement and the appearance of a disseminated maculopapular rash. Cardiovascular, neurologic and gummatous lesions characterize tertiary syphilis. The simultaneous presentation of primary and secondary syphilis has been reported because the chancre can persist into the secondary stage, especially in HIV positive patients. Although syphilitic alopecia is a rare manifestation of secondary syphilis it is an important differential diagnosis in the evaluation of patients with patchy hair loss. This article aims to present the case of a 34-year-old HIV-positive male patient that presented simultaneous primary and secondary syphilis associated with syphilitic alopecia and acute bacterial folliculitis. *Corresponding author: Isabel Cristina Valente Duarte de Sousa, Specialty in Dermatology, Hospital ABC Santa Fe. Av. Carlos Graef Fernandez, Consultorio, Cuajimalpa, Mexico, E-mail: [email protected] Received July 31, 2013; Accepted August 30, 2013; Published September 03, 2013 Citation: de Sousa ICVD (2013) Simultaneous Primary and Secondary Syphilis Associated with Syphilitic Alopecia and Folliculitis in an HIV Positive Patient. Hair Ther Transplant 3: 108. doi:10.4172/2167-0951.1000108 Copyright: © 2013 de Sousa ICVD. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.