Synopsis of the final report of the Royal Commission on Venereal Diseases / by Douglas White.

  • White, Douglas
Date:
1916
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Synopsis of the final report of the Royal Commission on Venereal Diseases / by Douglas White. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    tested, -46 or 9'36% proved to be syphilitic. Sir John Collie held that had the other classes been examined by the same test, at least an equal propor- tion, and probably a greater in class (a) would have have given positive reactions. In the last group (c), out of 103 men who had been in the Navy or Army, 19% had been infected, as compared with 6% among 343 civilians. The average age of the men was about 30; nearly all were married. The men thus dealt with were of a somewhat superior class, so that the figures are the more remarkable, closely corresponding as they do with Dr. Fildes’s results, where there was no class selection. It must also be remembered that in tertiary syphilis, the test often—in about 15%—gives negative results two or three times before a positive reaction is obtained; these cases were only once examined. Positive results are certain, negative results much less so. It is probable that these results under- estimate the prevalence of syphilis in the industrial community, ‘‘the deadly influence’’ of which is exhibited in Sir J. Collie’s analysis. § 48. (3) The Lister Institute examined the blood of patients App. admitted to 14 asylums during three months XIV. (October-December, 1914), selected as representa- tive of different sections of the population. Of 545 samples 84 were positive, 9 partial, and 452 nega- tive. This implies a positive percentage of at least 15-17. § 49. (4) Under Dr. Mott’s direction, the serum-test was App. applied to patients in various institutions, suffering SVs from various disorders of the nervous system. Epileptics were found to give 74% of positive reactions; insane (non-paralytic) gave 8°4%; feeble- minded children gave 8'1%. These figures were not considered high enough to show dependence of the condition on previous syphilis. Out of 1,483 patients admitted to certain London infirmaries 295 cases, or 19°9%, proved to be syphilitic—the proportion being double those found among apparently healthy employés by Sir J. Collie: | In the case of newly-born infants, or their mothers, 71 Shoreditch cases gave 19'7% positive, while in St. Pancras go cases gave 66%. The latter were entirely cases of legitimate birth; 29 of the Shoreditch cases were illegitimate. The illegitimates gave a percentage of 27°6%, showing