Porter believes many people are not aware syphilis can be contracted via oral sex alone.
Early symptoms can include a rash on the palm of your hands, the soles of your feet, or on your chest or stomach.
Small painless ulcers might affect genital area but can also be found in other areas of the body. You may also experience swollen lymph nodes.
“Education is important, as is destigmatising syphilis,” said Porter.
“What we want is for people to have sex safely. Using condoms is a brilliant start. But if you are concerned, get tested, even if you don’t have symptoms. This helps us to identify cases, start treatment and reduce the spread.
Porter said negative results are just as important as the positive.
“If you test now and get a negative result that’s a good benchmark because if you test again and get a positive result, we will have an idea of how long you have had the infection,” she added.