Yeasts and circumcision in the male.

Abstract

Sixty-six circumcized men and 69 uncircumcized men, heterosexual and homosexual, had specimens taken from the coronal sulcus and meatus of the penis. Yeasts were isolated at similar rates in the circumcized (14%) and uncircumcized (17%) men. The circumcized men had significantly fewer symptoms (P = 0.0058). Therefore the female partners of circumcized and uncircumcized men are exposed to similar rates of yeast infection despite the absence of symptoms in circumcized men. Eighty per cent of the female contacts of yeast-positive men had yeast infection while 32% of the contacts of yeast-negative men were affected. This difference was statistically significant (0.05 > P > 0.025). Men with non-specific genital infection seemed more likely to carry yeasts than men with gonorrhea or normal men.