The male urethra, the canal via which pee leaves the body, is discovered to be home to a variety of bacteria by Indiana University School of Medicine researchers. These germs are likely acquired during vaginal sex. When the team swabbed the urethras of 110 males who had no sexually transmitted infections or urethra-related conditions, they found two types of bacteria. The first group, which can survive in the presence of oxygen and is present in the majority of men’s swabs, is likely a resident of the penile urethra. Only men who admitted to having vaginal sex were found to have the second group, which was dominated by germs linked to bacterial vaginosis (BV). This implies that they picked up the bacteria during these interactions and might spread some bacteria from one woman to another.
The research creates a baseline for the flora of a healthy penile urethra, which might be used to gauge the health or infection of the penile microbiome.
GIbiome 