E29: The Australian Army’s Two ‘Traditional’ Diseases: Gonorrhea and Syphilis — A Military-Medical History During the Twentieth Century by Ian Howie-Willis

"The Australian Army’s Two ‘Traditional’ Diseases: Gonorrhea and Syphilis — A Military-Medical History During the Twentieth Century" by Ian Howie-Willis details the military-medical history of gonorrhea and syphilis within the Australian Army throughout the twentieth century. The author, Ian Howie-Willis, focuses on demonstrating the statistical scale of these sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)—or venereal diseases (VD)—during major overseas deployments, from the Boer War to the Vietnam War. It contrasts the difficult, prolonged treatments before the mid-1940s introduction of penicillin with the shorter hospital stays afterward, noting how the availability of a rapid cure increased soldier complacency and led to high infection rates in later conflicts like the Occupation of Japan and the Vietnam War. The article concludes that VD was a major, persistent problem for the Australian Army, resulting in an estimated over 125,000 cases treated across the century. You can read the original article here: https://jmvh.org/article/the-australian-armys-two-traditional-diseases-gonorrhea-and-syphilis-a-military-medical-history-during-the-twentieth-century/