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The lesions associated with primary and secondary syphilis are self-limiting, even without treatment, and resolve with few or no residua. Ocular and otologic syphilis have been associated with permanent vision and hearing loss. Tertiary and congenital syphilis may be highly destructive and permanently disabling and may lead to death. While infection is rarely eradicated completely in the absence of treatment, most infections likely remain latent without sequelae, and only a small number of latent infections progress to further disease.