Medicine: Calculating The Odds

AIDS is not easy to catch, even from an infected sex partner. But researchers at last week's 27th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, in Manhattan, presented further evidence that the odds are not equal for all players in today's sexual roulette. Drawing on a study of 357 men at a venereal-disease clinic in Nairobi, Microbiologist William Cameron reported that uncircumcised men are 9 1/2 times as likely as circumcised males to become infected after exposure. According to Cameron, "The mucosal membrane underneath the foreskin may trap the virus, making it more likely to enter the bloodstream."

Cameron and others...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!