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CONTROL OF VENEREAL DISEASES.
NOTES ON THE WORK AT THE SPECIAL TREATMENT CENTRE OF
QUEEN MARY'S HOSPITAL DURING THE YEAR®
This Centre is now the responsibility of the Hospital Management Committee, but in
view of the importance to the public health of the diseases treated there, the following
notes have kindly been supplied by the Director DreF oG<,Macdonald0
To facilitate comparison certain 1948 figures are put in brackets*,
New Patients 483 (50?)
Total Attendances 6278(61*18)
The diagnosis of New Cases was as follows
Syphilis in primary or secondary stage 18(13)
Syphilis in early latent stage 24(14)
Syphilis in later {non~infective) stages 8(13)
Congenital Syphilis 8(7)
Gonorrhoea 46(74)
Soft Sore 0( 0)
Cases previously treated elsewhere 27(30)
Return Cases 4l(30)
Non-Venereal Conditions 303(327)
The total number of patients who attended was 669* This figure includes 186 who were
already under treatment or observation on January 1st, 19490
It will be noticed that there has been a rise in the number of early latent syphilis
cases seen for the first time<, The total of 24 includes 18 women, 17 of whom were found to
be infected after routine serological tests had been carried out during pregnancy. It is
satisfactory to be able to record again that all these patients have been attending regularly
for treatment, and that all who have so far been delivered have given birth to healthy infants
showing no clinical or serological evidence of syphilis<,
It may again be stressed that, as the result of routine serological tests for syphilis
during pregnancy, not only is the health of many women and their unborn children being saved,
but also that of their husband and other children. In addition, some of these women have,
as the result of investigation of the siblings and parents been found to be cases of congenital
infection in a latent form0 It will be realised that each of these cases raises a domestic
issue which has to be handled with delicacy and care. In regard to this angle of the subject
I cannot speak too highly of the nursing staff at the clinic to whom these patients find it so
easy to wopen their hearts®, resulting in an atmosphere which materially assists me in my task
of explaining to the patient as much as is advisable, and in inducing them to persuade other
members of the family to attend for investigation« I should like, also, to pay tribute to the
courage and commonsense which I have almost invariably found in these patients0
Any occasional remissness in attending for treatment is usually removed by a friendly
call at home by my social worker.
The marked fall in the number of Gonorrhoea cases may be due to more of such cases
being treated by the general practitioner® Without presuming to express any opinion as to
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