Will Dunham Washington, October 7 (Reuters)-
There is not enough evidence that circumcision can protect men from HIV when having sex with other men, although studies have shown that circumcision can protect them when having sex with womenS.
Researchers said Tuesday.
The United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, India, Taiwan, 15 research reviews involving 53,567 gay and bisexual men, researchers from the United States said, peru and the Netherlands have failed to show obvious benefits to those who have been circumcisedS.
The Government Center for Disease Control and Prevention said.
CDC researchers say men who are circumcised are 14% less likely to be infected with human immune deficiency virus (HIV) than men who are uncircumcised, but this finding is statistically meaningless.
"You can't say with confidence that we saw the real effect there," said Greg Rio milllet of CDC, who led the study that appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"Overall, we did not find the protective effect of gay and bisexual male circumcision," Millett said in a telephone interview . ".
Studies involving African men show that male circumcision reduces the risk of women by halfto-
HIV infection in men
Experts say this reduces the risk of HIV, probably because cells in the foreskin are particularly vulnerable to HIV, and the foreskin is the part of the penis cut off during circumcision.
The virus may also survive better in a warm, humid environment, as found under the foreskin.
But it remains unclear whether circumcision reduces the risk of HIV infection among men.
In many countries outside Africa, gay and bisexual men play a bigger role in AIDS.
For example, the CDC said last week that 48% of the 1 is not recommended.
1 million of Americans living with HIV are men who have sex with men.
More than three. quarters of U. S.
The man was circumcised.
"We really can't recommend men who have sex with men in the United States to receive full male circumcision," Millett said . ". The CDC’s Dr.
Peter Kilmarx, who was not involved in the study, said the agency was preparing a formal proposal on circumcision in the United States, which would be published early next year.
Millat said there are indications that circumcision may protect certain gay and bisexual men based on sexual behavior.
The virus can spread through blood or semen.
Millat said research in Australia and Peru showed that men who performed anal insertion only and were not penetrated by their male sexual partners received significant protection against HIV infection from circumcision.
"Of course, if you are penetrated by your partner when you have sex, you are circumcised and will not protect you from HIV infection," milllet said . ".
Milllet says two AmericansS.
Prior to the launch of HIV infection combined with drug therapy (known as high-efficiency antiretroviral therapy) in 1996, Peru conducted a study that showed that men who were circumcised were 53% less likely to be infected with HIV than men who were not circumcised.
Since HAART came out, he said, it may help to turn HIV infections into chronic diseases, not death sentences for many, and some gay and bisexual men may feel more free to engage in risky sex. (
Edited by Maggie Fox and Eric Walsh)