Circumcision Might Not Provide Protection Against HIV in Men Who Have Sex With Men

"In a study of more than 1,800 men from the U.S. and Peru, researchers found that overall, the risk of contracting HIV over 18 months did not significantly differ between circumcised and uncircumcised men," Reuters reports. Study participants "reported having sex with other men and were considered to be at increased risk of HIV infection because they were already infected with the genital herpes virus (herpes simplex type 2), which can make people more susceptible to HIV," Reuters notes. The findings, published in the journal AIDS, show that "5 percent of the 1,365 uncircumcised men became HIV-positive, as did 4 percent of the 457 circumcised men," the news service writes. "Taken together, the results 'indicate no overall protective benefit from male circumcision' when it comes to male-to-male HIV transmission, write the researchers, led by Dr. Jorge Sanchez of the research organization Impacta Peru, in Lima" (12/7).