Viagra Blamed for Stds in Pensioners

By day, residents of The Villages enjoy all the respectable pursuits of a healthy old age - a hand of cards, a tea dance and perhaps a round of golf before happy hour.

But doctors are reporting a sharp rise in sexually transmitted diseases such as herpes and human papillomavirus (HPV) among pensioners at the retirement community and say the growing popularity of Viagra is to blame. "I worked in Miami before coming here and I never saw so many warts or herpes," said Colleen McQuade, a gynaecologist at The Villages hospital, 60 miles north of Orlando.

Health officials are working on an education programme that will take into account that many residents are from a generation not used to openly discussing sexual issues.

One resident in his 70s told a newspaper: "I've had a better dating life since I have been here than I have ever had."