Early male circumcision may help cut rates of HIV

London: Early circumcision in males may be a positive step in slowing the spread of both HIV and the human papillomavirus (HPV) In South Africa, researchers say.

Anna R. Giuliano, Ph.D., program leader in cancer epidemiology at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and colleagues note that studies have shown that circumcision of HIV-infected men does not reduce HPV transmission to their female partners, citing that many factors may account for this lack of efficacy.


However, they suggest that the high prevalence of HPV among the HIV-infected men (73 percent in the intervention group and 69 percent in the control group) and the high prevalence of HIV among the female partners of greater than 60 percent, relates to the lack of efficacy of male circumcision.

In that study, it was pointed out that the high and sustained prevalence of HPV among the HIV-infected individuals is “likely to overwhelm any preventative effect of circumcision.”  More Read

Posted in: Health