Circumcision and Sexually Transmitted Diseases

(See also Circumcision and HIV)

The body of medical literature gives no clear indication one way or the other whether circumcision protects against STD. Many studies have reached contradictory conclusions.

In a self-published pamphlet, Circumcision: A Parent's Decision for Life, Aaron Fink suggested that the dried-out, cornified circumcised glans and mucosa were tougher and therefore less prone to infection than those of intact men. This has been repeated in many places but has never been proved. In fact, dry mucous membranes are more prone to infection than naturally moist ones (for the same reason people tend to get colds in the wintertime).

In any event, the debate over STDs and AIDS does not apply to neonatal circumcision. Children are not sexually active. If left intact, they can weigh the issue for themselves when they are old enough to consent.

Cook LS, Koutsky LA, Holmes KK. Circumcision and sexually transmitted diseases. Am J Public Health 1994; 84: 197-201.
Cook LS. Koutsky LA. Holmes KK. Clinical presentation of genital warts among circumcised and uncircumcised heterosexual men attending an urban STD clinic. Genitourin Med 1993; 69: 262-264.
Donovan B, Bassett I, Bodsworth NJ. Male circumcision and common sexually transmissible diseases in a developed nation setting. Genitourin Med 1994; 70: 317-20.
Donovan B, Bassett I, Bodsworth NJ et al. Herpes simplex virus type 2 infection of heterosexual men attending a sexual health centre. Med J Aust 1994,160:69-70
Guimaraes M, Castilho E, Ramos-Filho C, et al. Heterosexual transmission of HIV-1: a multicenter study in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. VII International Conference on AIDS. Florence, June 1991 [abstract MC3098].
Smith GL, Greenup R, Takafuji ET. Circumcision as a risk factor for urethritis in racial groups. Am J Public Health 1987; 77: 452-4.

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