Male circumcision leads to poorer hygiene and higher susceptibility to infections.
Hygiene
Circumcision advocates believe that circumcision can improve genital hygiene. They argue that circumcision "creates dry conditions," which leads to reduced bacterial colonization and can therefore be considered a "more favorable baseline" in terms of the risk of infection. Circumcision also impedes the accumulation of smegma and prevents it, which is identified as a source of inflammation. However, these assumptions are not scientifically proven. Rather, new research suggests that circumcision worsens rather than improves genital hygiene.
https://www.cirp.org/library/complications/vanhowe/The glans exposed by circumcision is considered dirtier than cleaner, as it is constantly exposed to dirt, skin abrasion, contaminants, and germs of all kinds.
https://www.cirp.org/library/complications/vanhowe/Studies have shown that circumcised boys are more likely to suffer from balanitis, meatitis, adhesions to the glans penis, and meatal stenosis.
https://www.cirp.org/library/complications/vanhowe/Circumcision is particularly problematic in terms of hygiene, especially during the diaper years, when feces mixed with urine can not only corrode the exposed urethral meatus but also the amputation wound from the surgery itself.
https://www.cirp.org/library/complications/kaplan/2. Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)
The reduction in the incidence of urinary tract infections (UTIs) is often cited as a justification for routine circumcision.
https://www.cirp.org/library/general/poland/In the mid-1980s, American military physician Thomas Wiswell concluded in his study, in which he retrospectively reviewed the hospital records of boys born in US military hospitals, that intact infants had a 10–20 times greater risk of developing a urinary tract infection than circumcised infants.
https://www.cirp.org/library/general/poland/Of the 28 cases of urinary tract infections he discovered in his study, 4 were circumcised and 24 were uncircumcised. It was not mentioned that many of the uncircumcised boys had congenital problems that could have contributed to infection. Wiswell further equated the presence of bacteria in the urine with urinary tract infections.
But even according to Wissel's dubious results from his retrospective study, the protective effect of circumcision is modest: According to his study, the incidence of urinary tract infections in the first year of life in an intact boy is 1.12%, while in a circumcised boy it is only 0.11%. According to Wiswell, this incidence is more than 10 times lower. However, given the overall low incidence of a maximum of 1.12%, even based on Wiswell's study, more than 100 circumcisions would be necessary to prevent just one uncomplicated urinary tract infection.
https://bjui-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1046/j.1464-410x.1999.0830s1045.xOther study results suggest that circumcision increases rather than decreases the already low baseline risk of urinary tract infections.
In a study of 47 febrile infants, 17% of whom suffered from urinary tract infections, all of the children with urinary tract infections were male, and the urinary tract infections occurred a few days after their ritual circumcision.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/513140The results confirm the findings of an earlier study by the same lead author.
https://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/for-professionals/alleged-medical-benefits/urinary-tract-infections/Goldman and colleagues observed the incidence of urinary tract infections resulting from ritual circumcision and concluded that there may be a causal relationship between urinary tract infections and circumcision.
https://www.cirp.org/library/disease/UTI/goldman/Cohen and colleagues investigated the epidemiology of urinary tract infections during the first year of life in 169 children. They found that ritual circumcision, as practiced in Israel, is a risk factor for urinary tract infections within the 12-day period following the procedure.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/000992289203100601?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmedTo date, only one randomized controlled trial has been conducted on the relationship between circumcision and urinary tract infections. This study found that circumcision is not an effective means of preventing or treating (recurrent) urinary tract infections, even in children suffering from vesicoureteral reflux—a malformation of the lower urinary tract. This study thus refuted the results of Wiswell's retrospective studies, which suggested that circumcision could prevent urinary tract infections in boys.
https://www.cirp.org/library/disease/UTI/kwak1/