Possibly as a result of these measu

Possibly as a result of these measures, as well as of the energetic treatment by mercury inunction and the development of some degree of immunity, syphilis in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries tended to become a more chronic disease. Nevertheless, it remained widespread and a major health problem. As middle class morality became dominant,the disease began to be considered a social stigma. It went underground, which greatly hindered efforts to control the disease until very recently.