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Remembered Today:

VD Treatment


JMB1943

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A soldier's service record will sometimes include "admitted to VD hospital..."

What was the likely period of treatment for VD (assuming the same for gonorrhea or syphilis)?

 

Regards,

JMB

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1 hour ago, JMB1943 said:

A soldier's service record will sometimes include "admitted to VD hospital..."

What was the likely period of treatment for VD (assuming the same for gonorrhea or syphilis)?

 

Regards,

JMB

This suggest a month

The British Army’s fight against Venereal Disease in the ‘Heroic Age of Prostitution’* | World War I Centenary (ox.ac.uk)

While almost never fatal, venereal cases required on average a month of intensive hospital treatment. 

 

regards

Jon

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Jon,

 

Thank you for that link; I can't wait to discover what was "Heroic" !!!

 

regards,

JMB

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There are a number of previous threads on the GWF about VD and its treatment (some of the descriptions are very graphic) but as far as I can see not too many references to the length of hospitalisation, though I did spot one to three months.

 

Later in the war patients from Australia's No I Dermatological Hospital (actually one that dealt with VD cases) were moved before their treatment was complete to the Convalescent Depot at Park House Camp where they were given training as they fully recovered. (War diaries are available here with monthly statistics.)

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A man named on a local War Memorial must have had a night out on 27th May 1916, noticed symptoms on 2nd June 1916, and after treatment and relapses was finally declared cured and fit for duty on 28th March 1917, after 10 Medical Boards. All this occurred in the UK before going overseas.

Martin

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I've attached a Casualty Record (along with my transcript) of a soldier I've been researching who had syphilis in 1917. The record is a bit tricky to read, so I hope my transcript is accurate.

 

He may have had the first signs in early/mid-March of 1917 (urethritis). He was moved to infantry base depot 37 2 weeks later, but was not admitted to the VD hospital (General Hospital 51) in Etaples until 2 weeks after that, so a month after symptoms became evident.

 

He was discharged from GH 51 on May 7th and returned to his unit on June 11th. His pay was forfeited from April 19th until May 7th. 

 

All together that is about 2 months from first signs to release from hospital, but about 3 weeks of hospital treatment.

 

(Casualty record from FMP)

Untitled.jpg

Albert Dale service record 1 edit.jpg

Edited by KernelPanic
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  • 1 month later...

Kernel,

 

Thanks for transcribing that record, it is very informative!!

Sorry for this late reply.

 

Regards,

JMB

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According to a on paper "Victims, heros, Survivors Sexual Violence on the Eastern front during WW II" the German army had 2 million men get a STD in WW I and 1.7 million get a STD in WW II. As for Russia it seems a large part of the population had some sort of STD pre WW I and WW I and the Russian Civil war if anything made things worst

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