folded blanket may be placed on a flat surface, hung over a line, or held by two other
persons. When the whole job is finished, each pile of blankets should be pounded
several times in order to spread the powder and work it into the seams and patches.
(2) When a hand duster is not available, apply the powder with a sifter can.
As each blanket is spread, the powder is shaken onto it. The surface of one blanket will
then spread the powder onto the undersurface of the next. After a number of blankets
have been dusted, pound or fluff them lightly to distribute the powder evenly. Canvas
packs, duffle bags, boxes, footlockers, and similar items may also need dusting.
Section VI. VENEREAL DISEASES
1-29. GENERAL
Historically, venereal disease (VD) has been a major health problem of both
civilian and military communities. Unlike most other communicable diseases, VD has
flourished for many years simply because a false modesty has kept people from facing
the facts. Only a few years have passed since it was considered impolite to use the
words "syphilis," "gonorrhea," and "venereal disease" in public. So great was the
shame attached to these diseases that many doctors often hesitated to treat them,
fearing possible injury to their professional prestige. Regardless of this false sense of
pride, venereal diseases continued to infect all classes of society. No one was immune
from these infections that killed some and ruined the lives of thousands of others.
Because of the refusal to face the facts about the cause, effect, and treatment of VD,
many infected persons either were not diagnosed and treated or they resorted to
drugstore cures or treatment by quacks. As a result, many children were born dead or
with malformations resulting from congenital syphilis. Others were blinded through
infection of the eye with gonococci during childbirth. Venereal diseases accounted for a
large percentage of insanity, paralysis, heart disease, and lifetime crippling. Currently,
venereal disease is a complex problem having both medical and sociological overtones
that are inseparable. The venereal diseases of greatest importance to the Army are
gonorrhea and syphilis. Of lesser but still significant importance herpes, chancroid,
lymphogranuloma venereum, and granuloma inguinale.
1-30. TRANSMISSION OF VENEREAL DISEASES
Venereal diseases are almost always acquired by sexual contact with an infected
individual. Direct contact with the lesions (sores) caused by the disease or with material
from the lesions is the method of transmission. The lesions are usually on the genitals.
When an infected person has a lesion about the mouth, the disease can be transmitted
by kissing or any other direct contact with the sore. Indirect transmission by
contaminated articles, while possible, can be ruled out for practical purposes because of
the inability of the causative organisms to survive outside the body for over a minute or
so. Pregnant women with syphilis may transmit the disease to the fetus after the fourth
month of pregnancy by placental transfer. Syphilis may be transmitted by blood
transfusion, but proper processing normally precludes this possibility. Children born of
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