Non-venereally transmitted 'endemic' syphilis in Vienna.

Treponematosis: Past, Present, and Future

“…European physicians of the 16th century recognized that venereal syphilis could be spread by asexual contact, e.g., an infant born with congenital syphilis could infect its wet nurse through minor skin trauma to her nipple, and that same wet nurse could subsequently infect her own healthy infant from her breast lesion (Quétel 1990); some four centuries later, Eisenberg and colleagues (1949) and Luger (1972) documented examples of asexual transmission of syphilis in mid-20th-century Chicago and Vienna. European physicians of the 16th century recognized that venereal syphilis could be spread by asexual contact, e.g., an infant born with congenital syphilis could infect its wet nurse through minor skin trauma to her nipple, and that same wet nurse could subsequently infect her own healthy infant from her breast lesion (Quétel 1990); some four centuries later, Eisenberg and colleagues (1949) and Luger (1972) documented examples of asexual transmission of syphilis in mid-20th-century Chicago and Vienna.…”

Changing patterns of treponemal disease.

“…A more recent experience was described by Luger (1972); three children were infected in a crowded ex-barrack building in Vienna, although the room occupied by the family of nine also contained the luxury items of a refrigerator, television set, record-player, and two transistor radios.…”

“…5). These enzymes affect the strengthening cross-bondings between the adjacent reforming chains (Pelzer, 1967;Kern, 1972;Luger, 1973) (Fig. 6).…”