The Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution
Lois N. Magner, Oliver J. Kim in A History of Medicine, 2017
In mocking tribute to Venus, the goddess of love, the term venereal has long served as a euphemism in matters pertaining to sex. But in an era that prides itself on having won the sexual revolution, the more explicit term sexually transmitted disease (STD) has been substituted for venereal disease (VD). Any disease that can be transmitted by sexual contact may be considered a venereal disease. A more restrictive definition includes only those diseases that are never, or almost never, transmitted by any mechanism other than sexual contact. Syphilis and gonorrhea have been called the major venereal diseases, but the so-called minor venereal diseases—chancroid, lymphogranuloma venereum, and granuloma inguinale—also cause serious complications. Scabies and crab lice gain membership in the club if the less rigorous definition of STD is accepted. Additional modern members of the STD club are genital herpes, trichomoniasis, nongonococcal urethritis, chlamydia, and HIV/AIDS. In 2016, epidemiologists found evidence that Zika fever, a newly emerging viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes, can also be sexually transmitted. Zika became a disease of international concern primarily because it was associated with microcephaly and other forms of brain damage in infants whose mothers had contracted Zika during pregnancy.
‘A masculine mythology suppressing and distorting all the facts’
Waltraud Ernst in Histories of the Normal and the Abnormal, 2006
Ellis’s comment on the institutionalisation of the male sexual impulse was echoing arguments advanced by late nineteenth-century feminists embattled against the injustices to their sex encoded in British laws, in particular the Contagious Diseases Acts of the 1860s. These Acts were intended to safeguard the health of the armed forces, an issue of pressing concern following the debacle of the Crimean War and the subsequent government investigations into the health of the army and navy. One of the major threats to military health was venereal disease, running at a shockingly high rate among the ranks. The measure taken to deal with this particular threat was to create certain ‘designated districts’ around port and garrison towns, within which any woman suspected of being a prostitute could be compulsorily examined for venereal disease and, if found to be infected, incarcerated until cured. While this seemed to many an appropriate public health approach, these Acts aroused great hostility on grounds of religion and morality, as well as by their implicit violation of understood civil liberties (prostitution as such was not a crime, yet these women were, in effect, being incarcerated). They also aroused huge indignation among women already active in campaigns to improve women’s civil and legal status.10
The health centre
Christopher Aldous, Akihito Suzuki in Reforming Public Health in Occupied Japan, 1945–52, 2011
Perhaps echoing this ‘new age’ programme, the health centres started to frame the control of venereal disease in a new language. An article in Hokenjo Jihō[Health Centre News] of Shigehara Health Centre in Chiba prefecture contrasted the old culture of shame with the new, open one. Venereal diseases should no longer be regarded as a shameful disease, ‘as one sows, so one shall reap’ [jigojitoku] or ‘hiding unpleasant realities’ [kusai mono ni futa]. Such an approach would not eradicate the diseases. Rather, venereal disease should be treated as an ordinary disease. A newsletter from Iwauchi Health Centre in Hokkaido maintained that patients should not feel shameful about the disease, and society should not blame the patient, but encourage and help the patient from a broad viewpoint of the public's welfare.53 A similar view was expressed in Ueda Health Centre's newsletter.54
Risk Propensity and Risk Factors for Sexually Transmitted Infections in Canadian Armed Forces Recruits
Published in Military Behavioral Health, 2020
Heather J. McCuaig Edge, Vincent Beswick-Escanlar
The RHQ enquires about STI risk factors with three single item questions about number of sexual partners, condom use, and history of a STI diagnosis. Number of sexual partners was assessed with the question, “How many different sexual partners have you had in the past 12 months?” with response options of none, 1 partner, 2 partners, 3 partners, and 4 or more partners. Frequency of condom use was assessed with the question, “If you were not in an exclusive relationship at the time, how often did you use a condom in the past 12 months?” with response options of always, usually, occasionally, never, and not applicable. Because this question requests responses from only those recruits who were not in an exclusive relationship at the time, respondents who selected “not applicable” were excluded from these analyses, resulting in a reduced n = 4,782 for this outcome. Finally, a history of a STI diagnosis was assessed with the question, “Have you ever been told by a doctor or nurse that you had a sexually transmitted infection—like chlamydia, gonorrhea, genital herpes, or syphilis?” with response options of yes or no.
Isolated vasculitis of the urinary bladder: a note on diagnosis and prognosis
Published in Scandinavian Journal of Urology, 2018
Magnus Fall, Linnea Höper, Christina Kåbjörn-Gustafsson, Estelle Trysberg
The patient was transferred to the Department of Rheumatology for further investigation. Upon probing his history, no other symptoms or signs indicating rheumatic disease were found. The patient was in good physical shape, and he did not smoke, use drugs or drink alcohol. Anti-nuclear antibodies, extractable nuclear antigen, anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies and lupus anticoagulant were negative. There were no signs of systemic inflammation, with normal CRP, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and complement levels; and no signs of other organ involvement, with normal creatinine, liver enzymes and blood count. Tests for Chlamydia trachomatis, Mycoplasma genitalium (both using the polymerase chain reaction technique), gonorrhea (with specific culture) and syphilis (in the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory) were all negative. Before the onset of symptoms, the patient had taken no prescribed medicines or herbal drugs.
Resolution of Large Choroidal Tuberculoma following Monotherapy with Intravitreal Ranibizumab
Published in Ocular Immunology and Inflammation, 2020
Sahil Jain, Aniruddha Agarwal, Vishali Gupta
Mantoux test was positive with induration of 35 mm × 35 mm. QuantiFERON TB (QTB) gold (interferon gamma release assay) was positive. Venereal disease research laboratory was negative. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography of the chest did not reveal any foci of lesions in lung or presence of lymphadenopathy. Patient had no history of any systemic problems or infections in the past. On basis of mantoux and QTB gold, we made a diagnosis of tubercular choroidal granuloma and since there were no systemic lesions suggestive of active TB, we decided to treat him initially with only intravitreal ranibizumab 0.5 mg/0.5 ml injection. The patient responded dramatically and his vision returned to 20/40 within 2 weeks of the injection. Four weeks after injection there was a resolution of SRF in a subfoveal location with only residual SRF present temporal to fovea. At 6 weeks the patient improved his visual acuity to 20/30 with complete healing of the tuberculoma with pigmentation and sharp delineation of margins along with OCT showing complete resolution of SRF and choroidal granuloma.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Genital Ulcer
- Oral Sex
- Pelvic Pain
- Infection
- Vaginal Discharge
- Pathogen Transmission
- Sexual Activity
- Sexual Intercourse
- Anal Sex
- Penile Discharge