Circumcised heterosexual men are 35% less likely to contract human papillomavirus (HPV) and 25% less likely to catch herpes than their uncircumcised counterparts, according to the study, published in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine.

The study, led by scientists from Johns Hopkins University and Makerere University in Uganda, relied on data from the same randomized control trials in Africa that already showed that circumcision cuts in half the risk of contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which can cause AIDS. HPV and herpes are among the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the U.S., far more common than AIDS. HPV can cause genital warts and cervical cancer. There are no cures for herpes and HPV.

About 30% of men worldwide are circumcised. In the U.S., about 79% of men have undergone the procedure, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Meanwhile, the new study and a recent report from South Africa show that male circumcision may benefit women, too. Compared with uncircumcised men, those who were circumcised as part of either of the clinical trials were one-third less likely to be infected with one of the dangerous types of human papillomavirus, or HPV, that can cause cervical cancer when passed on to women.

Earlier studies by all three teams showed male circumcision lessened the risk of acquiring HIV by up to 60 percent.