Venereal Disease Public Health

Ur. Howard Loach, Director of the V. D. Council and Health Education for Los Angeles County, in a speech before the Los Angeles Chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis recently noted that there was a larger and larger amount of V. D. being caused by male homosexual contacts.

He stated that this seemed to be due, in part at least, to a notion that homosexuals could not spread V. D. through

their particular forms of love-making. Another cause, of course, is the fear of homosexuals of being turned over to the law if they reported a case of V. D. It was these two last concepts that Mr. Leach wished particularly to dispel.

Mr. Leach was chiefly concerned about informing the public as fully as possible regarding the cause and cure of venereal disease. He stated that better than 95% of syphilis cases could be cured if caught by doctors in the early stages. He said that penicillin treatments were the proferred method, providing the patient was not allergic or immune to penicillin.

More and more venereal disease is found among younger and younger people, Mr. Leach pointed out. V. D. used to be found in its early stages more in the 25 29 year group, whereas now over 50% of the cases reported are in the "under 25 years" group.

Mr. Leach said that San Francisco has had a 500% increase and Los Angeles a 300% increase in V. D. cases reported in 1960: That year 580 new cases were reported in Los Angeles. of these 580 new cases, 80% were caused by male, white, homosexual contacts. Very few Lesbian cases were reported, so few as to be negligible, Mr. Leach said.

SYMPTOMS OF VENEREAL DISEASE

In the case of gonorrhea, a man knows within three to ten days whether he has it or not, for it makes him very

4