Dr. Nigel O'Farrell and a team from Ealing Hospital in London noted that the presence of "subpreputial penile wetness," a lanolin-like wetness commonly found under the foreskin in most uncircumcised men, increased the risk of infection.
To investigate, the researchers studied clinical reports of 386 uncircumcised men residing in or near Durban, South Africa, who were free of genital lesions or discharge. Physicians who examined the men observed approximately 80 percent of the men had slight degree of wetness around the penis, 19 percent were judged to be wet, and 2 percent as very wet.
In contrast, only one of 36 circumcised men they examined had wetness.
Researchers noted that HIV infection was 66.3 percent more common among the men with penile wetness, compared to 45.9 percent in men with no wetness. The degree of wetness had no affect over the risk of infection.
Dr. O'Farrell's group suggests that "information, education, and communication programs at a number of levels would be needed: for instance, encouraging washing related to sexual activity - precoital or postcoital or as an everyday life skill."
