Question

A client who has syphilis tells the nurse that it must have been contracted from a toilet seat. The nurse knows that this cannot be true because the causative agent of syphilis is:

1. Immobilized by body contact

2. Chelated by wood and plastic

3. Inactivated when exposed to a dry environment

4. Destroyed when exposed to a warm environment

Answer 1

Syphilis cannot be contracted from a toilet seat because its causative agent, Treponema pallidum, is inactivated in dry environments and is transmitted through direct contact with infectious sores.

Step-by-step explanation:

A client who has syphilis cannot contract it from a toilet seat because the causative agent of syphilis, the bacterium Treponema pallidum, is inactivated when exposed to a dry environment. Syphilis is transmitted from person to person by direct contact with a syphilitic sore, known as a chancre, which can occur on the genitals, mouth, or anus. It cannot survive on surfaces like toilet seats because the bacterium requires a wet environment to remain viable and is rapidly inactivated in the absence of moisture and human body contact.