Women and VD - includes related article on sexually transmitted diseases

Although venereal disease (VD) poses special problems for both sexes, it should be of special concern to women, both because of social attitudes and the nature of the female anatomy.

Like alcoholism, VD is considered a "macho" experience by some males, a rite of passage to be accepted and even reinforced as proof of virility. But there is no "prestige" for the woman who is infected with venereal disease. As the American Social Health Association (ASH) notes in its pamphlet Women and VD, for her there is a dilemma:

It's all right says a hidden message of our sexually permissive society, for a woman to have sex with multiple partners; but it is not acceptable for her to get VD. Often she is the one blamed for the disease.

Further, the message continues, it is presumptuous for her to take precautions against getting VD. That would indicate that she had planned sex, and only spontaneous sex is acceptable unless she is married to her partner.

If anti-female attitudes aren't enough, women also have problems of anatomy. Early symptoms of venereal disease in women, unlike those in men, are internal and more difficult to detect and women do not often seek early treatment before the disease can cause illness, sterility, or perhaps even death.

How many women in the United States are affected by VD? An estimated seven million, most (although not all) between the ages of 15 and 34, according to medical statistics. There are several types of VD with different symptoms and consequences (see chart).

More than one million of these women suffer from gonorrhea: another million or so have nongonococcal cervicitis/vaginitis, which can mimic gonorrhea in symptoms and consequences.

A minimum of 2 1/2 million (and probably more) are infected with painful, incurable, recurrent genital herpes; another 100,000 have syphilis. Two-and-a-half to three million women have trichomonal infection, either alone or in combination with another venereal disease.

Many women are infected with venereal warts or are carrier of Cytomegalovirus and group B streptococcus. The latter who diseases have little or no effect on an adult but may be serious for a newborn infant.

[TABULAR DATA OMITTED]

COPYRIGHT 1992 Vegetus Publications
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group