Latest Circumcision and HIV Stories

Study examines changes in the penis microbiome Male circumcision reduces the abundance of bacteria living on the penis and might help explain why circumcision offers men some protection against HIV, according to a study led by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). Removing the foreskin caused a significant shift in the bacterial community or microbiome of the penis, according to a study published today by the online journal mBio. This international collaboration...

Circumcision drastically alters the microbiome of the penis, changes that could explain why circumcision offers protection against HIV and other viral infections. In a study to be published on April 16 in mBio®, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, researchers studied the effects of adult male circumcision on the types of bacteria that live under the foreskin before and after circumcision. By one year post-procedure, the total bacterial load in that area...

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., March 4, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Study results presented today at the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections by the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) show that a series of community efforts can increase the number of people who get tested and know their HIV status, especially among men and young people with HIV who might otherwise transmit the virus to others. The study was also able...

Too many young people continue to become infected and few are tested for HIV ATLANTA, Nov. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Young people between the ages of 13 and 24 represent more than a quarter of new HIV infections each year (26 percent) and most of these youth living with HIV (60 percent) are unaware they are infected, according to a Vital Signs report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most-affected young people are young gay and bisexual men and...

Michael Harper for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online A new study has shown that fewer Americans are opting to have their baby boys circumcised and, if this trend continues, our Nation could end up tacking on an additional $4.4 billion to our avoidable health care costs. Once a routine operation, many parents are choosing to leave their sons “al fresco” as the debate between “to snip or not to snip” wages on. "We find that each circumcision not performed will lead to $313 of...

Study finds HIV home test is popular among men with high risk sexual practices Thirty years into the HIV epidemic, many people who are at high risk of HIV infection cannot or will not adopt safer sexual practices, such as abstinence and condom use.  This means there is room in the market for alternative methods to reduce either exposure to or transmission of HIV among these individuals.  One such strategy, HIV home testing (HT), is the subject of a recent study by Alex Carballo-Dieguez...

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., July 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- When the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 052 investigators released their landmark study results last year showing that treatment can reduce HIV transmission by 96% in serodiscordant couples, questions were raised about the cost of early antiretroviral therapy (ART) and if it should be universally implemented. Data presented today at the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C. show that...

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., July 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Study results released today by the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) show additional benefits of early antiretroviral therapy (ART) in HIV clinical outcomes. Expanded analysis of HPTN 052 study data presented today at the XIX International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C. demonstrated that early versus delayed ART showed a trend toward delaying the time to both AIDS and non-AIDS primary events and...

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- This evening the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the World Health Organization (WHO), AVAC and Champions for an HIV-Free Generation brought together African political and traditional leaders, as well as key figures in the international HIV response, for a satellite event at the 19th International AIDS Conference 2012. This unique group of leaders...

Study results released today by the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) show disturbing rates of new HIV infections occurring among black gay and bisexual men in the U.S. (also known as men who have sex with men, or MSM), particularly young black MSM. The HPTN 061 study showed that the overall rate of new HIV infection among black MSM in this study was 2.8% per year, a rate that is nearly 50% higher than in white MSM in the U.S. Even more alarming, HPTN 061 found that young black MSM—those...