step-by-step elimination of the old punitive measures, until by 1944, there remained only
the provision that a soldier could be punished for willfully concealing a venereal
infection. This is the only punitive measure authorized at present.
c. In line with changing attitudes of military and civilian leaders, the Army began
in 1946 to de-emphasize prophylaxis as a control measure and to emphasize the moral
and spiritual approach to the problem. In 1947, the Chief of Staff stated that the control
of sexually transmitted disease was a responsibility of the commanding officer and that
the technical staff officers (surgeons, provost marshals, chaplains, and so forth) would
be utilized only as technical advisors in their special fields. Thus, the Army's program of
sexually transmitted disease control became for the first time in a real sense, a
command program of prevention rather than punishment or after-the-fact medical
treatment.
8-2.
PUBLIC ATTITUDE TOWARD SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASE
The prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases is dependent upon the
availability of infected persons and the frequency and range of exposure. Unlike most
other communicable diseases, venereal disease (VD) for many years has flourished
simply because a false modesty has kept people from the words "syphilis," "gonorrhea,"
and "venereal disease" in public. So great was the name attached to these diseases
that many doctors often hesitated to treat them, fearing possible injury to their
professional prestige. Currently VD is a complex problem having both medical and
sociological overtones that are inseparable.
Section II. THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES
8-3.
MODE OF TRANSMISSION
a. Sexually transmitted diseases are spread from person to person almost1
entirely by sexual contact. The chances of becoming infected increase tremendously
when an individual changes sexual partners frequently. Some individuals who feel
guilty of promiscuous sexual relations and want to hide their sexual escapades often
blame objects such as toilet seats, towels, personal articles, and dishes as vehicles of
infection. Venereal disease agents cannot live long away from the human body and,
except for remote possibilities, sexually transmitted disease is not transmitted in such a
manner.
____________
1
Nurses, doctors, and laboratory technicians rarely have become accidentally infected
through coming in contact with syphilitic infections when examining or treating VD
patients or when handling laboratory specimens. Gonorrhea has been transmitted from
person to person, usually young children, in hospitals by rectal thermometers which
have been improperly sterilized after use. Newborn babies born of infected mothers
may acquire gonococcal infection in the conjunctiva of the eyes if proper care (normally
eye drops of 1 percent silver nitrate solution) is not afforded at childbirth.
MD0008
8-3