VENEREAL DISEASES
Bathroom VD
Dear Dr. Schoenfeld:
My date sometimes takes me to bars and nightclubs in the rougher parts of our town.
Can you tell me if it's possible to get a venereal disease in the bathroom?
Yours truly,
Phyllis M
Certainly it's possible to get a venereal disease in the bathroom. But bathroom floors are usually very cold and hard.
In other words, only in the rarest of circumstances could a person contract a venereal disease other than by intimate physical contact.
Boyfriend has Gonorrhea
My boyfriend had a discharge from his penis, saw a doctor, and was treated for gonorrhea. I haven't noticed any symptoms in myself. Is it necessary that I get a check-up? If so, where can I go? I have very little money and no regular doctor.
Gonorrhea in the male usually makes itself known by a discharge from the penis, itching, and burning on urination. In the female, however, there may be less obvious symptoms or no symptoms at all. If your boyfriend had gonorrhea (and I assume you two are friendly) there is a good chance you may have it also, even though you may feel perfectly well. Most cities of any size operate clinics where you may receive treatment of venereal diseases free of charge. If you are a college student you may go to your student health service.
Vietnam VD
I have read a few newspaper articles referring to the high incidence of VD among American servicemen in Vietnam. My boyfriend is due to return from Vietnam in about three weeks, at which time he will be discharged from active duty.
How can I be sure that he is free of VD before we have relations, without insulting him, in an effort to protect myself.
The high incidence of VD among servicemen in Vietnam is due mainly to gonorrhea. Your boyfriend will probably be returning by ship, a trip of two weeks or so. In this time the symptoms of gonorrhea would become known and he would be treated by the doctors on the ship.
Returning GI's and their doctors are quite familiar with the Vietnam VD problem. Sometimes, the type of gonorrhea found in Vietnam is difficult to treat with penicillin alone but, so far, alternate drugs have been effective. If your boyfriend should notice a discharge from his penis or pain when he urinates, both of you should be seen by a physician.
Syphilis is a more complicated disease. Its first stage is a chancre, or painless ulcer, appearing on the penis, vulva, in the vagina, mouth, rectum, on the finger, or any other place where sexual contact has been made.
Untreated, the chancre will disappear but more serious stages of the disease follow. Blood tests show the presence of syphilis thirty to ninety days after the initial sexual contact.
If venereal diseases were not associated with shame and guilt, they could soon be virtually eliminated from our society. Those who suspect they may have a communicable disease should promptly seek medical attention and urge their friends to do the same. The prevention and treatment of disease is an act of love.
Female Gonorrhea
If gonorrhea in the female is often without symptoms, is it also without harm to her—except as a social stigma?
Though symptoms in the female may be minimal or even absent, gonorrhea often spreads from the vagina and urethra to cause an infection of the cervix, uterus, Fallopian tubes, and ovaries. Such a condition is called pelvic inflammatory disease or PID and gonorrhea is the chief cause of PID.
PID causes fever, pain in the lower abdomen, and is an important cause of sterility due to the inflammation and subsequent scarring of the Fallopian tubes.
Another complication of gonorrhea, found in both males and females, is a type of arthritis. But this is an uncommon finding.
These complications are further reasons for seeking medical attention whenever gonorrhea is suspected.
Treatment usually consists of two shots of penicillin, though with more and more strains of the gonococcus becoming resistant to penicillin, alternate antibiotics may be required.
In order to control the spread of the disease and to prevent reinfection, both (or all) parties involved must receive adequate diagnosis and treatment. That's the reason you may be questioned by a VD investigator at your local VD clinic. He's not just nosy, nor does he fink to the police.
Here's a little poem on the subject by Richard Brautigan:
Flowers for Those You Love
Butcher, baker, candlestick maker,
anybody can get VD,
including those you love.
Please see a doctor
if you think you've got it.
You'll feel better afterwards
and so will those you love.
Mathematics
Does promiscuity increase the risk of contracting a venereal disease?
If venereal diseases are present in a community, increasing one's sexual contacts also increases the risk of contacting one of these diseases. Venereal diseases, especially gonorrhea and syphilis, are present in large communities in epidemic proportions. Treatment of VD used to be a simple matter but recently many penicillin-resistant bacteria have appeared and alternate drugs must often be employed. The risk of contracting a venereal disease increases directly with the number of one's partners. At the first suspicion of VD you should contact your physician or local health department. Help keep your community safe for love!
Types of VD
Are there more venereal diseases besides gonorrhea and syphilis?
The diseases usually classified as venereal are gonorrhea, syphilis, chancroid, granuloma inguinale, and lymphogranuloma venereum. The last three are fortunately rare and usually found only in sailors and other visitors to exotic ports.
VD is unpleasant and may be dangerous if untreated—but it's better to have had a positive Wassermann test than never to have loved at all.
VD and Penicillin
I have been told there is a penicillin tablet available by prescription which can be taken thirty minutes before intercourse and thirty minutes after which will effectively prevent venereal infection. What do you think of such a program?
Not much. As you suggest, most venereal infections could be prevented by the prophylactic or preventive use of penicillin.
But such a program would do far more harm than good for the following reasons:
Bacteria such as those which cause gonorrhea are becoming more resistant to penicillin therapy. If everyone dropped a penicillin tablet each time he had sex, it would only be a matter of time before the drug was totally ineffective for treating VD. There is a growing fear among public health specialists that this may happen in the foreseeable future anyway.
The more one is exposed to a drug like penicillin, the greater his chances of developing an allergy to it, and many people are sensitive to penicillin already. The chances of dying from a penicillin reaction are greater than from a venereal disease.
Vaccines against VD?
Is there any reason (biological, not sociological) why vaccines have not been developed for use against the venereal diseases? The micro-organisms causing them are known, are they not?
Developing vaccines against the major venereal diseases, gonorrhea and syphilis, presents problems aside from "moral" barriers certain to be raised by church groups. Gonorrhea is a disease which does not give the gift of future immunity. The most feasible type of vaccine would be similar to cholera vaccinations which must be renewed every six months.
Research continues on a vaccine for syphilis with promising, but so far, unsuccessful results. One very important factor to be considered is the necessity to have the vaccine not give false positive blood tests for syphilis.
A vaccine which caused positive blood tests for syphilis would do more harm than good since it would be impossible to differentiate between those who had the disease and required treatment and those who had only been vaccinated against it.
At present the VDRL, Wassermann, or similar blood tests are the best diagnostic tools we have for detecting syphilis in its later stages.
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General Health
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