Circumcision In HIV Times

Abstract

Circumcision is a procedure that has been used for hundreds of years; its benefits for disease prevention have been mentioned in anecdotal form for many years. In 1980 with the emergence of HIV infection a diminution of cases was observed in circumcised males. We reviewed the studies evolution trying to demonstrate the scientific validity of this observation showing the importance of viral load and mucosal integrity as factors for HIV transmission. In 2008 with the publication of three prospective, randomized trials on 11,054 patients demonstrated the incidence of HIV Infection decrease of 50% with the practice of circumcision. These studies prompted the WHO to recommend circumcision as a primary preventive procedure for prevention of HIV. We reviewed and found evidence of effectiveness on this procedure preventing other diseases as chancroid, syphilis, papilloma virus, chlamydia and herpes; questioning the validity of current recommendations stressing out the need to review them.