The report of a 25 year New Zealand study, published in the November issue of the international journal Pediatry, suggests that neo-natal circumcision may reduce the risk of STDs by upto 50%.
The latest study conducted on 510 boys, teens and young men from birth to the age of 25, shows that 356 uncircumcised boys had a 2.66 fold increased risk of contracting STDs in contrast to 154 circumcised boys.
The authors of this study, Dr David M Fergusson and colleagues, suggest that had neonatal circumcisfion taken place, the rate of approximately 48% of STDs found in subjects in the study, could have been prevented.
They analysed data collected for the Christchurch Health and Development Study.
The subjects were divided into 2 groups based on whether they were circumcised before the age of 15 or not. Contraction of STDs between the ages of 18 and 25 was determined by a questionnaire.
Though the results show that circumcision can reduce the risk of STDs like HIV, syphilis and genital ulcers by upto 50%, results are more mixed for other STDs.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has labeled the findings as “complex and conflicting”. However, Jay Berkelhamer, president of the Academy thinks that its time to reconsider the evidence in light of the new study.
Although the results are considered inconclusive due to insufficient evidence, the authors insist that, “The public health issues raised by these findings clearly involve weighing the longer-term benefits of routine neonatal circumcision in terms of reducing risks of infection within the population, against the perceived costs of the procedure."
