NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Female sexual partners of
circumcised men are less likely to contract Chlamydia
trachomatis infections than are those of uncircumcised men, a
study shows.
The most common bacterial cause of sexually transmitted
infections, C. trachomatis can cause severe reproductive
complications in women and is associated with increased risk of
cervical cancer.
The relationship between male circumcision and C.
trachomatis infection in the female partner has not been
explored, Dr. Xavier Castellsague, at Institut Catala
d’Oncologia in Barcelona, and colleagues point out in the
American Journal of Epidemiology for November.
They therefore evaluated this relationship among 300 female
subjects enrolled in studies in Colombia, Spain, Brazil,
Thailand and the Philippines and their male partners. Blood
samples from the women were tested for C. trachomatis.
According to the report, the overall prevalence of
circumcision was 37 percent among the men, ranging from 1.8
percent in Spain to 92 percent in the Philippines.
Women whose partners were circumcised were significantly
less likely to be infected with C. trachomatis. This was true
across all five countries.
Only among younger women and women with a history of
consistent condom use was there no association between
circumcision and C. trachomatis detection.
The researchers speculate that a penis with retained
foreskin is perhaps more likely to retain infection for a
longer duration than a penis with no foreskin, “subsequently
increasing the likelihood of infection to the penile urethra
and transmission to the vagina during intercourse.”
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology November 2005.
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