Charles VIII’s French soldiers spread syphilis in Naples. Upon their return to France, they spread the epidemic throughout France and then throughout Europe. Out of patriotic zeal, it was called the “French disease” in Italy and the “Neapolitan disease” in France. It gradually disappeared only with the discovery of antibiotics. In 1940, for example, syphilis was no longer a threat in the United States, thanks to the widespread use of penicillin.
