Condyloma lata in a preschooler: The dilemma of sexual abuse versus non-abuse

It is well-known that syphilis is a sexually-transmitted or an inherited infection. Syphilis in preschoolers is rarely described in modern medical literature. Our case represents the difficulty or dilemma faced by dermatologists after diagnosing syphilis in a girl child due to inability of the young children to provide a history of sexual abuse and more over the parents/guardians also try to hide the history of sexual-abuse. Although rare, we can consider non-sexual transmission after we have thoroughly investigated and ruled out even the remote possibility of sexual abuse, because misdiagnosis of both abuse and non-abuse can be devastating to the patient and family.