Abstract
The pattern of sexually transmitted disease (STD) in a public clinic in Madurai City, India, was studied for 10 years (1974-83). Syphilis was found to be the most common STD in men (28.3%) and trichomoniasis in women (39.6%). The tropical STDs (chancroid, lymphogranuloma venereum, and granuloma inguinale) formed a sizeable proportion (30.1%) of all STDs. A tendency to overdiagnose chancroid and lymphogranuloma venereum and a failure to detect many cases of gonorrhoea reflected a lack of laboratory facilities.