Catching syphilis

[Rena]

My late OH was in the forces in the 1950s at a time when every public toilet had a warning notice about Venereal Disease.  At the time members of the Forces were issued with condoms; other ranks were issued with what they described as "wellington boots" and officers issued with gossamer condoms.

If one of HM forces caught a venereal disease then lower ranks records would state caught from visiting a brothel, etc., but officers only caught the disease from toilet seats.

[Annie65115]

Not always, as Boris' great great etc granny found out - you can catch it from touch, i.e. nurses and physicians got it

Allegedly! Because we all know that the upper social classes would never get something like this from the more, shall we say "traditional" route, hey?! 

But one other thing to remember, in all seriousness, is that not all cases of "syphilis" were actually that. It was a common condition, and I'm sure the doctors were skilled at spotting common problems - but there was no understanding of many other diseases that we know about now, and so I''m sure that some of the folk who had a diagnosis of syphilis may well have been suffering from other psychiatric or neurological problems. The bacterium which causes it wasn't discovered until 1905; the blood tests that we now use to diagnose it came later.

(I think the same about TB by the way - everyone knew it made you lose weight and cough up blood. Consequently such symptoms were attributed to TB and that may well have been correct a lot of the time. But when did you ever see a Victorian death certificate with "lung cancer" on?)

[melba_schmelba]

Not always, as Boris' great great etc granny found out - you can catch it from touch, i.e. nurses and physicians got it

Allegedly! Because we all know that the upper social classes would never get something like this from the more, shall we say "traditional" route, hey?! 

But one other thing to remember, in all seriousness, is that not all cases of "syphilis" were actually that. It was a common condition, and I'm sure the doctors were skilled at spotting common problems - but there was no understanding of many other diseases that we know about now, and so I''m sure that some of the folk who had a diagnosis of syphilis may well have been suffering from other psychiatric or neurological problems. The bacterium which causes it wasn't discovered until 1905; the blood tests that we now use to diagnose it came later.

(I think the same about TB by the way - everyone knew it made you lose weight and cough up blood. Consequently such symptoms were attributed to TB and that may well have been correct a lot of the time. But when did you ever see a Victorian death certificate with "lung cancer" on?)

It seems like any contact with the mucous membranes of an infected person would put another person at high risk of catching it, so any nurse washing an incapable person would be greatly at risk, especially when they wouldn't have understood the need for extreme hygiene precautions in those days.

[Annie65115]

---- but only during the infectious phase, and that doesn't include GPI

[melba_schmelba]

---- but only during the infectious phase, and that doesn't include GPI

So do syphilitic people only show signs of fever, sickness or insanity after the infectious period ends?

[iolaus]

GPI is tertiary syphilis and is often decades after the infectious part

While not impossible it's quite hard to catch blood borne viruses through exposure to the mucus membranes - even when you get splashed in the face - eyes and mouth
- can't remember the exact figures but I remember being told them after it happened to me and needed to have blood tests done and beign surprised at exactly how low it was - different figures for each disease

[Pennines]

This Forum is quite amazing -- we get medical lessons as well as Family History tips.

The other week I was involved in a topic and learnt how to make some sort of Scottish cake. (Can't remember it's name now -- but it sounded delicious.)

[Johnf04]

My late OH was in the forces in the 1950s at a time when every public toilet had a warning notice about Venereal Disease.  At the time members of the Forces were issued with condoms; other ranks were issued with what they described as "wellington boots" and officers issued with gossamer condoms.

If one of HM forces caught a venereal disease then lower ranks records would state caught from visiting a brothel, etc., but officers only caught the disease from toilet seats.

My dad was in the Navy in WW2. The sailors were told that the only people allowed to catch VD from a toilet seat were Winston Churchill and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

[Jebber]

The Amy regarded venereal diseases as self inflicted injury.