Gonococcal infection in teen-aged girls and mature women.

Abstract

The spread of gonorrhoea must be prevented by investigating, tracing, and treating the female sexual contacts of men treated for this infection. Its obvious clinical nature in males and the simple test available for diagnosis are the factors concerned in this method of control. In the main, the epidemiological control of venereal disease is a major function of our nation-wide public health clinics. Gonorrhoea in women and girls has become an increasingly important public health problem and one of diminishing interest to general medical practitioners. This lack of interest may be attributed partly to the almost perfect therapeutic effects of the now available antibiotic drugs on this venereal disease as well as on syphilis. Despite the curative efficacy of antibiotics, the numerous cases of gonorrhoea reported by physicians and clinics indicate the continued seriousness of the problem. Although more cases of gonorrhoea have been reported in males than in females, the incidence of the disease in the latter is still significantly high. For instance, the reports from all sources to the U.S. Department of Health for the fiscal year ending July, 1955, list 239,787 cases in both sexes. According to race, there were 14,737 or 19 per cent. in the white or colour unknown, and 60,932 or 81 per cent. in non-white females. Private physicians reported a total of 7,112 cases of gonorrhoea in females or only 9 3 per cent. It is difficult to determine the actual number of cases with gonorrhoea treated in private practice because many physicians lack interest in the management and control of venereal disease. Lentz and Beerman (1953) noted the declining number of cases of gonorrhoea reported from private practice in Philadelphia, and they indicated that many physicians may not be reporting a large proportion of their cases. Further, the difficulty in confirming by laboratory methods, even when available, the clinical diagnosis of gonococcal infection in women