# Was there really a "deadly Vietnam STD?"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 5, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261 "2004-12-05T20:58:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 19
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/21 "2010-12-21T03:20:01Z")
There’s a famous National Lampoon cartoon from the old days that told this story.
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### Author:  [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/22 "2010-12-21T03:43:17Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#):
>
> 1. A condition with such, er, spectacular symptoms, especially if it had been observed by US military doctors, surely would feature in numerous articles and papers in the medical literature. I don’t recall ever hearing of such a thing, and I’m not going to waste my time on what would likely turn out to be a wild goose chase. You might try researching on Medline if you want to pursue this further.
Entertaining thread. I’m glad others decided to ignore this and go on to discuss an interesting bit of folklore.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/23 "2010-12-21T05:20:10Z")
Our mandatory sex lecture in Vietnam included a lanky black medic dude who told us that if we _didn’t wear a raincoat_ we would end up _dripping like a faucet_ and _never allowed to go home_ until it cleared up. Oh, and he said the cure for syph was multiple shots in _the right side of the left nut_ with\* a square needle\* and 50 ccs (hold up giant syringe here for emphasis) of penicillin each time.
Luckily, I never learned if he was right.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/24 "2010-12-22T03:43:44Z")
Trust me. If there were a disease like the OP suggests, I would know about it. There’s not.
But I see the OP ended up being Banned. Perhaps he discovered too much? And had to be hushed up? Hmm?
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### Author:  [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/25 "2010-12-22T03:51:26Z")
> [@paperbackwriter](#):
>
> Probably the same NCO’s that sent you off for a bucket of prop wash, right?
There is no prop wash silly, these are jet engines…
Now go up to the bridge and get me the keys for this F-4 so we can move it.
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### Author:  [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/26 "2010-12-22T05:08:58Z")
As soon as I can get the 100 feet of flightline that Petty Officer Smith wanted…
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### Author:  [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/27 "2010-12-22T05:17:52Z")
If a zombie’s dick turned black and fell off, would that even raise any eyebrows?
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### Author:  [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/28 "2010-12-22T06:26:00Z")
> [@Tammi\_Terrell](#):
>
> The most common rumor, which you may have also heard, about Southeast Asian beer of the period (and GIs frequently told this about 33 beer) is that these brews contained appreciable amounts of formaldehyde, either by accident (e.g., that breweries in Southeast Asia lacked knowledge of how to brew properly and inadvertently sold to beer-consuming GIs formaldehyde-contaminated concoctions) or by design (e.g., to prolong the shelflife of bottled beer or to give the beer an extra kick).
>
> – Tammi Terrell
This bit of folklore may have its origin in an actual incident involving the adulteration of [Jamaican ginger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_ginger#History) extract (“Jake”). Jake was marketed as a patent medicine in order to get around Prohibition-era restrictions on alcoholic beverages. Several batches were amended with the plasticizer [TCP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricresyl_phosphate). TCP causes nerve damage, especially in the spinal cord, and many (estimates range from 30,000 to 50,000) Jake users suffered from some degree of paralysis or neuropathy.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/29 "2010-12-22T15:55:07Z")
> [@Tammi\_Terrell](#):
>
> The most common rumor, which you may have also heard, about Southeast Asian beer of the period (and GIs frequently told this about 33 beer) is that these brews contained appreciable amounts of formaldehyde, either by accident (e.g., that breweries in Southeast Asia lacked knowledge of how to brew properly and inadvertently sold to beer-consuming GIs formaldehyde-contaminated concoctions) or by design (e.g., to prolong the shelflife of bottled beer or to give the beer an extra kick).
> [@cwthree](#):
>
> This bit of folklore may have its origin in an actual incident involving the adulteration of [Jamaican ginger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamaica_ginger#History) extract (“Jake”). Jake was marketed as a patent medicine in order to get around Prohibition-era restrictions on alcoholic beverages. Several batches were amended with the plasticizer [TCP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricresyl_phosphate). TCP causes nerve damage, especially in the spinal cord, and many (estimates range from 30,000 to 50,000) Jake users suffered from some degree of paralysis or neuropathy.
The formaldehyde rumors keep popping up to this day. Thailand’s Singha beer has long been rumored to contain it, and Boon Rawd Brewery, the maker, keeps coming out to deny it. It really doesn’t contain any, but the way it usually goes is some dork drinks 30 bottles, gets sick, then figures it must be true! :smack:
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/30 "2010-12-22T15:59:16Z")
I’m a vet and I remember this tale being told, along with the one about poison/glass in the Cokes the kids sold on the side of the road. Hey, it kept me out of the skivvy houses, which I believe was the purpose of the rumor.
**paperbackwriter** : Hard to believe, but the Petty Officer I worked for in Vietnam had one of the newbies looking for a skyhook for two weeks before somebody clued him in. He scoured every warehouse on the base and nobody told him he was on a fool’s errand.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/31 "2010-12-22T16:22:14Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#):
>
> The formaldehyde rumors keep popping up to this day. Thailand’s Singha beer has long been rumored to contain it, and Boon Rawd Brewery, the maker, keeps coming out to deny it. It really doesn’t contain any, but the way it usually goes is some dork drinks 30 bottles, gets sick, then figures it must be true! :smack:
I’ve heard the same formaldehyde rumors applied to a number of Russian beers, too, so it seems to be a widespread rumor.
[Here’s an article about formaldehyde in Chinese beer.](http://www.beer-faq.com/formaldehyde-beer/)
And if you dig further, you can find the [People’s Daily Online](http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200507/17/eng20050717_196588.html) article which states:
> [@](#):
>
> Formaldehyde appears naturally in any brewery process but no such chemical is artificially added to Tsingdao Beer as a stabilizer, according the local quality watchdog.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/32 "2010-12-22T16:32:13Z")
[Here’s a source](http://www.beer-faq.com/formaldehyde-beer/) that mentions the Chinese report but seems dubious about whether it applies to non-Chinese beers.
And this one is interesting: [Top 10 Beer Myths](http://www.drinkingbeer.net/BeerArticles/Top_10_Beer_Myths.php5). (The formaldehyde myth is #8.)
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/33 "2010-12-22T17:02:55Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#):
>
> [Here’s a source](http://www.beer-faq.com/formaldehyde-beer/) that mentions the Chinese report but seems dubious about whether it applies to non-Chinese beers.
Beat you to it!
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/34 "2010-12-22T17:27:24Z")
Well so you did. I blame being addled on the formaldehyde in the local beer.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/35 "2010-12-22T18:15:25Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#):
>
> But I see the OP ended up being Banned. Perhaps he discovered too much? And had to be hushed up? Hmm?
The zombies got to him. You have been warned.
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### Author:  [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/36 "2010-12-22T19:22:02Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> I’m a vet and I remember this tale being told…
When I first started reading your post, I thought you were saying that were a veterinarian, and I wasn’t exactly sure what to make of the connection…
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/37 "2010-12-22T20:05:37Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#):
>
> When I first started reading your post, I thought you were saying that were a veterinarian, and I wasn’t exactly sure what to make of the connection…
Why yes, there were many cat doctors in Vietnam, because there were so many cathouses, you see.
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### Author:  [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/38 "2010-12-22T20:10:50Z")
We vets are often confused with soldiers.
That’s a joke, son. As an ex-soldier who was drafted against his will, I resented being called a soldier then and still cringe being called a vet, which implies, to some, a pro-war stance.
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### Author:  [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)
#### Post date: [December 22, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-there-really-a-deadly-vietnam-std/278261/39 "2010-12-22T21:11:50Z")
> [@paperbackwriter](#):
>
> As soon as I can get the 100 feet of flightline that Petty Officer Smith wanted…
. . . and the five gallon bucket of relative bearing grease. Move it sailor!
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