Modern Trends in the Management and Control of Syphilis

Abstract

T HE progress which modem medicine has made in the control of syphilis stands out as one of mankind's greatest victories in the conquest of communicable disease. In the past, unreliable techniques made diagnosis uncertain; today we have techniques that assure almost complete accuracy in diagnosis. The ineffective, painful, and often dangerous, chemotherapeutic techniques of the past have been replaced by extraordinarily effective methods of treatment. There has, indeed, been a remarkable advance toward the goal of eventual eradication of syphilis. The downward trend in the incidenceof syphilis in the United States in recent years can be best appraised when one considers the drop from 363,647 cases and 12,956 deaths during the peak year of 1946, to 156,099 cases and 5430 deaths in 1953. Many of the gains made during this time can be attributed to an improved health education program coupled with the development of one of modem science's greatest discoveries-penicillin. No longer is there a place in the treatment of syphilis for the toxic arsenicals and heavy metals, with their painful and dangerous side effects which occasionally resulted in serious disease or even death. In addition to the therapeutic advances that have been made, modern case-finding techniques, improved reporting, and better follow-up procedures have all contributed to the decline in the incidence of the disease. The armed forces and numerous health agencies, during and after World War II, helped materially to advance this cause through their research and through their wide dissemination of information about the prophylaxis and treatment of syphilis.