University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, May 9, 1972
3
Doctors Say Local VD Rate Stable
By DIANE CARR
Kansan Staff Writer
Public health experts say the country is in the grip of a venereal disease epidemic. However, local physicians agree that he has never reached proportions in Lawrence
The number of cases of VD each year exceeds that of strep throat, scarlet fever, measles, influenza and tuberculosis combined.
Venerable disease strikes most often in the cities. The national case rate for gonorrhea is 388 per 10,000 people, in Atlanta, which ranks first among all U.S. cities, there are 2,510 cases per 100,000. Next is San Francisco, which has 2,067 cases annually for every 100,000 people.
DR. RAYMOND SCH-WELGER, director of Watkins Hospital, said he thought that six or seven people need Watkins treats an average of six or seven months a month which is a population for a population of 18,000 he said.
There is a much higher incidence of gonorrhea than syphilis on campus. Syphilis is also the most common and when it does show up on campus it is usually brought in by the community. Schweiger said.
American women because they will rarely have pain or notice symptoms of gonorrhea until the disease has spread to the uterus. It then causes intense pain and sometimes forces a hysterectomy.
A few days after having been infected, a man with gonorrhea will experience a burning pain and may have a discharge of pus.
BECAUSE A WOMAN notices,
no signs of the disease until it is quite advanced, she can infect several men during sexual intercourse or close body contact without realizing it. Schewger said.
A blood test will reveal syphilis in any stage, but good gum health is important. The germ must be grown in culture for several days to become infectious.
After syphilis is contracted, a painless sore called a chancre will form around the body. The chancre usually obvious in a man but can be hidden in the genital tract of a woman who has been previously possible until secondary symptoms appear Symptoms are often headaches, hair may fall out in patches. In this stage sores may develop in the mouth and disease progresses.
VD rate was the increasing number of unmarried women taking birth control pills. This increased rubber condom which affords protection against infection. For double protection against VD and pregnancy, both birth control pills are used simultaneously, he said.
Also, researchers have found that birth control pills change the chemistry of the vaginal tract and make it less resistant to VD, which makes them more difficult to estimate, the risk of contracting gonorrhea for a woman engaging in a single act of unprotected intercourse with an infected partner is 40 per cent; for a woman using an injection, it is almost 100 per cent.
HOWEVER, SCHWEGLER SAID that he thought the Pill had helped to keep VD under control on campus.
"The Pill has made sex easily available so no student has to go off campus. When college students have only with other college students, the number of cases is usually reduced." Ashwegler said. The rate is really hard to control because students in by outside sources," he said.
dozen to two dozen cases a month.
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CLINTON SAID, the clinic treated approximately 50 to 60 cases a month. He estimated that about half of the students with VD came to the clinic to be treated rather than to Watkins or a private physician, while another half were Lawrence residents. Many persons feel uncomfortable going to a private physician or their instructor when they have VD, he said.
Many VD experts think that their best hope of fighting the VD epidemic would be the picture isn't very bright. Researchers have had difficulty in growing the spirochete in biological cultures.
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Dr. Dale Clinton, director of the Douglas County Health Clinic, said there had been no increase in cases at lawrence. Two years ago there was a sudden increase, he said, and within several months the number of cases had doubled. He said the number of cases has leveled off.
At Watkins Hospital and the public health clinic, all treatment is kept confidential and minors can be treated without their consent. A person who is treated will be asked to name all those he might
THE KEY to controlling VD is detecting cases early by tracking down potential carriers. Clinton said that on the average, for 10% of these cases find two other victims who have been infected. One problem today is that sexual contacts are more difficult to detect because being treated cannot remember the names of persons with whom they have had contact. Usually in these cases he informs them that at a party, he
Dr. Clinton said he attributed the slow rise in VD to changing lifestyle, a less rigid sexual behavior and an increase in population. Widespread use of the Pill is also a natural) outcome of men's alcohol use that directly affected the VD rate.
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