Documentary

Three Counties Against Syphilis

his film shows the work of the mobile syphilis detection and treatment unit of McIntosh, Glynn, and Camden counties in rural southeastern Georgia. The inside of the mobile clinic is shown. The films shows the route taken and the unit going into canneries, wood pulp factories, logging camps, country dance halls, elementary schools, and churches to treat patients with bismuth and arsphenamine injections. It shows both the Kahn and Wasserman blood tests and explains how to read the results. The film also shows the promotional literature using the phrase "bad blood" as a substitute for syphilis: flyers posted near gathering places and flyers used as wrappers for purchases, for example. It shows syphilis detection training for midwives and door-to-door canvasing.