Untreated Syphilis In The Film 'Miss Evers' Boys

Between 1932 and 1972, the United States Government engaged in a scientific study in which approximately 400 African-American men infected with syphilis were diagnosed but left untreated. The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis was led by the United States Public Health Service (PHS). It took advantage of uneducated, poor African-American farmers from Macon County, Alabama. The movie “Miss Evers’ Boys” reveals that the Tuskegee Study was conducted by a group of Southern doctors, and tells the story of the 400 African-American men who were the uninformed subjects of this study, which sought to determine whether untreated syphilis affects African-American men in the same way that it does white men. Further data for the study were to be collected from autopsies. Although originally projected for completion within six months, the study actually remained in progress for 40 years.

At first, these African-Americans were treated for the disease, but once funding for
Acquired T. Pallidum enters the body through skin mucous membranes, usually during sexual contact. Congenital Syphilis (CS) is transmitted to the fetus from the infected mother when the spirochete penetrates the placenta. Syphilis is a systemic disease, attacking tissues throughout the body. After initial penetration, the spirochetes multiply rapidly. First they enter the lymph capillaries, where they are transported to the nearest lymph gland. There they multiply, and are released into the blood stream. Within days the spirochetes invade every part of the body. A multi-organ infection, CS may result in a the neurologic or musculoskeletal handicap, or death, of the fetus when not properly treated. Trends in the CS rates of women of childbearing age follow by approximately one year the rates of primary and secondary syphilis. Racial/ethnic minorities continue to be affected disproportionately by