"Male Circumcision for the Prevention of HSV-2 and HPV Infections and Syphilis"

Tobian, Aaron A.R., Serwadda, David, Quinn, Thomas C., Kigozi, Godfrey, Gravitt, Patti E., Laeyendecker, Oliver, Charvat, Blake, Ssempijja, Victor, Riedesel, Melissa, Oliver, Amy E., Nowak, Rebecca G., Moulton, Lawrence H., Chen, Michael Z., Reynolds, Steven J., Wawer, Maria J., Gray, Ronald H.Male Circumcision for the Prevention of HSV-2 and HPV Infections and SyphilisN Engl J Med 2009 360: 1298-1309

Prior clinical trials have shown that male circumcision significantly reduced the incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among men. This study evaluated the efficacy of male circumcision for the prevention of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), human papillomavirus (HPV) infections, and syphilis in HIV-negative men.

5534 HIV-negative, uncircumcised male subjects between the ages of 15 and 49 were enrolled. 3393 were HSV-2 negative at enrollment. Of these subjects, 1684 were randomly assigned to have an immediate circumcision (intervention group) and 1709 to have circumcision after 24 months (control group). Subjects were tested for HSV-2, HIV infection, HPV, and syphilis at the beginning and at the end of the sutdy (24 months). In addition, we evaluated a subgroup of subjects for HPV infection at baseline and at 24 months.

The study's results showed that male circumcision significantly reduced the incidence of HIV and HSV-2 infection and the prevalence of HPV infection. Therefore, male circumcision can have significant public health benefit.