BEJEL

form of endemic (nonvenereal) syphilis occurring among Bedouin tribes and elsewhere in the Middle East. Although endemic syphilis differs clinically from sporadic (venereal) syphilis, both are diagnosed by the same tests, treated by the same drugs, and caused by the same parasite (Treponema pallidum); both cause the same fundamental pathological changes in the tissues. Bejel, however, is rarely transmitted congenitally or through sexual contact; it spreads by contact from child to child in an unhygienic environment. The infection appears first as an eruption on the mouth and skin. The profuse rash, extremely contagious and persisting for a year or more, eventually fades into latency; the blood test remains positive. Later, the early stage may relapse or latency may be terminated by the late stage of the disease, which is characterized by soft, gummy ulcers of the skin, the bones, and the centre of the face, a patchy loss of skin pigment, and other conditions. Involvement of the central nervous system is uncommon.