Circumcision may not cut HIV risk much

ATLANTA, July 24 (UPI) -- Three clinical trials in Africa found adult male circumcision reduced the risk of men acquiring HIV via heterosexual sex by about 55 percent.

Adult male circumcision may also play a role in preventing HIV transmission in the United States, but "the extent of this role on a population basis is unknown," according to scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Patrick Sullivan of the CDC's division of HIV/AIDS prevention says the potential impact of adult male circumcision on U.S. HIV transmission rates is hard to predict, given the many differences between the underlying HIV epidemics in Africa and the United States.

It is likely that circumcision will decrease the probability of a man acquiring HIV via penile-vaginal sex with an HIV-infected woman in the United States; however, the predominant mode of HIV transmission in the United States occurs among men who have sex with men, according to Sullivan.

Some sexually active men may consider circumcision as an additional HIV prevention measure but should do so only in consultation with their physician and with a clear understanding of the costs and risks of circumcision and the need to continue use of other, proven prevention measures -- reducing the numbers of sex partners and using condoms consistently and correctly, according to a paper by the CDC scientist published in PLoS Medicine.