Do treponemes survive adequate treatment of late syphilis?

Nodes from 45 men who had been treated for syphilis in varying stages of the disease were studied. Five of these nodes were shown to contain treponeme-like forms, which in two cases proved to be virulent. Repeat node study after supervised treatment was completely negative in all five men. Possible reinfection and inadequacy of previous treatment undoubtedly are important factors in the original findings. Penicillin is the drug of choice in the treatment of syphilis. There is no evidence thatTreponema pallidumsurvives in humans afteradequatepenicillin treatment.