Gonorrhea and Marriage.
After the treatment of chronic Gonorrhea is completed; after all visible signs and symptoms have cleared up; after the patient has resumed, with the permission of his physician, his usual mode of life, a momentous question comes up before the patient—when can he marry with an absolute assurance that he will not transmit his sickness to his wife; in other words, when can it be stated that he is absolutely cured? That the answer on this question may mean happiness or misery in life for the patient is realized and recognized by all intelligent people. But it seems to be unknown and commonly overlooked that to give a positive and definite answer to this question is a matter of great responsibility and of greatest difficulty, even to the most experienced and highly-trained specialist. Only those who know how treacherous are gonococci, what ability they have to lie dormant for many months or even years in the deep recesses of the body and then on some provocation to waken up to new activity, only those know how hard it is to get the system rid of them, and how difficult it is to be sure of their complete elimination. And yet almost in all cases a physician is able to tell with reasonable certainty whether the patient is able to get married without danger of transmitting the infection, but to arrive at such a definite conclusion a physician must undertake a whole series of different examinations and special tests, as only repeated, persistent, negative tests for Gonococci can be accepted as conclusive. A man who comes to a physician and insists that the physician should render his verdict at once demands the impossible, and the hasty conclusion he will force out is not worth much.