According to scientists at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Johns Hopkins University the strongest evidence for a cause-and-effect relationship between circumcision and HIV risk reduction came from three randomized-control trials in sub-Saharan Africa, where the circumcision rate is relatively low and the HIV infection rate is relatively high.
All the studies showed more than 40 percent reduction in HIV acquisition among circumcised men.
The new study found that circumcision - the removal of the foreskin, or prepuce, from the penis - eliminates an area of mucous membrane and dramatically changes the penile bacterial ecosystem.
“Our randomized trials have shown that male circumcision prevents HIV infection in men and protects their female partners from vaginal infections, especially bacterial vaginosis. It is possible that the virtual elimination of anaerobic bacteria by circumcision contributes to these benefits of the procedure," said Ronald H. Gray, a renowned epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins and the scientific paper’s senior author.
Posts
