Archive Report
Archive Report
Return of Venereal Disease Problem
Recent reversal of a long downward trend in incidence of syphilis and gonorrhea has brought a sharp reminder that the battle against these ancient scourges is far from won. While the present VD rate is far below what it was 15 years ago, thanks chiefly to penicillin, public health officers warn that serious obstacles to eradication of these diseases remain. So long as infected persons go untreated, the danger of epidemics persists.
Growth of the so-called social diseases among teenagers has caused special concern. Moral implications aside, the spread of syphilis and gonorrhea in the lower age groups presents a particularly serious problem, because the sufferers tend to keep knowledge of the condition to themselves. Early symptoms then disappear and the ...