Vaginitis of Children

Abstract

At present there is a vigorous campaign throughout the world against venereal disease. Although the attention of both the medical profession and the laity is being spurred by militant publicity, the problem of gonorrhea in the child remains almost completely neglected. The presence of this disease is rarely suspected, and the ignorance of both the lay public and the medical profession is the greatest obstacle to urgently needed concerted action for the control, study and prosecution of obviously required public health measures. Further, most of the recent articles in the literature are concerned with the treatment of the disease but totally disregard the larger problem of the social aspects, the public health question and the psychologic effects of the disease on the child. The few articles which call attention to these problems appear at irregular intervals and leave no deep or permanent impression on the medical profession, the social service agencies or public health officials. One finds, widespread, a dread of the appearance of the disease and the formulation of methods preventing the entrance of infected children into hospitals, nurseries, orphanages and convalescent homes. The exclusion of these children from schools removes them from restraint and training and leaves them marked among their playmates. Is it unexpected that such children become problem children, juvenile delinquents and maladjusted adults? Is it surprising that they feel themselves to be and are treated as the outcasts, the pariahs, of society ?Add to this the reaction of the relatives of these children, who in the majority of cases belong to the poorer classes. If they place any importance at all on the presence of a vaginal discharge, they associate it with venereal disease and cannot help making the child aware of the stigma attached to it. The irony of the situation lies in the fact that in the great majority of cases this is not a venereal disease in the true meaning of the word but is contracted innocentlv.

What is the evidence for non-sexual transmission of gonorrhoea in children after the neonatal period? A systematic review

“…Benson 43 describes a series of experiments conducted by Dobszay (Archiv fur Kinderheilkunde 1992;99:102). Dobszay took cultures at frequent intervals from various items contaminated either artificially or by letting infected children play with them.…”

“…In the past, gonorrhoea was commonly endemic and gonococcal infection in children acquired both sexually and non-sexually from contaminated articles was a frequently reported occurrence in textbooks and peer-reviewed papers. 27,43,44,[63][64][65] The gonococcus bacterium was discovered by Neisser in 1879 but finally confirmed as the cause of the venereal disease gonorrhoea after it was successfully cultured and humans infected experimentally by Bumm in 1884. 22 Originally it was believed 'that sexual contact alone could be responsible for such infection' but the frequent 'occurrence of cases in institutions for little girls, where there was no possibility of venereal infection' slowly convinced the medical fraternity that N gonorrhoea was extremely contagious and could be both sexually and non-sexually transmitted.…”