In female children the vagina may become infected through the use of tainted sponges, wash cloths, etc. An innocent girl may thus carelessly acquire the disease. For this reason, we see how necessary it is to caution girls never to use public towels or wash cloths that have been used by another person. Even in the home, every member of the family should have his exclusive towel and wash cloth.
The symptoms of gonorrhœa that often are noted first are a profuse discharge from the vagina, usually creamy or yellowish in color. This discharge is of such a nature that frequently it excoriates the external parts so that they become very tender and inflamed. Backache, especially across the hips, is a common accompaniment of this disease. There may be general soreness in the pelvic region. If a woman suspects she has contracted this disease, she should go immediately to some reliable physician; for at first the disease may affect only the vagina but, if neglected, may extend to the uterus and tubes. In its early stages it may be cured by prompt treatment, but the majority of women postpone treatment until it is too late.
The other loathsome disease, syphilis, infects the blood and therefore all parts of the body. While under proper treatment it is not dangerous to life in the earlier years, yet the possibilities of conveying the contagion are numerous. In the second stage, which lasts for a number of weeks, the mucous patches in the mouth are a source of danger. In this stage the disease may be conveyed by a kiss or through the medium of the public drinking cup, towel, or anything that comes in contact with the virus. It may be contracted by a babe from a wet-nurse or the nurse may contract it from the babe.
The most serious results of this disease appear years after its initial appearance, when the individual has been lulled into a false sense of security by long freedom from its outward symptoms. Many of the obscure cases of stomach or nerve trouble may be traced to this disease. The results not only affect the man, but, should he marry and have children, his innocent babes may come into the world with an inherited taint. These children seldom live to reach adult life and their lives usually are burdensome and full of misery. They may be deformed or be continually afflicted with ulcers or other horrible manifestations of the disease. I will explain this more thoroughly when I speak of heredity.
Many of the disastrous effects of these diseases might have been prevented if they had been properly treated in their early stages. Ignorance as to the nature and probable disastrous effects, if neglected, prevents many a person from procuring proper treatment. It is a common practice among men afflicted with these diseases to try various remedies recommended by their friends or by the druggist. It is strange that a person who would not think of trying to treat himself for smallpox or other contagious disease will do so with these diseases. With women, the cause of their neglect is a failure to realize the importance of the symptoms. Unfortunately women have grown to think that various female ills are their lot in life which must be endured and regarded as a dispensation of Providence instead of being considered an error in living that must be corrected the same as any other disease. Some commence treatment but neglect it as soon as the noticeable symptoms have disappeared. It generally is considered among physicians that the treatment of syphilis should be continued for at least three years after contracting the disease in order to remove all traces from the blood.
It is a deplorable fact that the prevalence of these diseases might have been prevented by proper instruction of young boys. No man ever willfully contracted one of these diseases. Statistics tell us that the majority of victims contract them before their twentieth year, before the boy has learned anything of their dangers or perhaps of their existence. If these patients received the right treatment immediately and continued it until the disease had been eradicated the results would have been less serious. Here, too, lack of early and proper instruction is shown; for these immature boys do not realize the necessity for prompt and wise treatment, or are misled by unscrupulous persons. I shall talk to you again on this subject, for many of you will have sons and you must know the dangers that beset them, so they can be prepared.