Chancroid, or ulcus molle, is an acute venereal ulcer of the genitals due to a streptobacillus discovered by Ducrey of Rome.
According to Cole, "chancroid is, next to gonorrhea, probably the commonest of the venereal diseases."1
In America chancroid is not a common condition among the well-to-do population, but seems to be fairly frequent among the lower classes and in the army and navy. Chancroid is more frequent in men than in women, in a ratio of about 15: 1 in my experience.
Chancroid falls to the lot of the dermatologist in Europe and in Latin America, but in the United States it has been scorned by skin specialists and is usually diagnosed and treated by the venereologist or the genito-urinary specialist. Its situation in the skin of the penis or the vulva or in the semimucous surface of the genitalia warrants its inclusion among the dermatologic conditions.
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