Circumcision Rate Reveals Connection In HIV-2 Prevalence In West Africa [STUDY]

West Africa -  the westernmost sub-region of Africa, has been cited in the study for HIV-2 prevalence due to lower historical male circumcision rates.

In the recent study published on Dec. 7 by João Sousa and colleagues, male circumcision rates in 1950 where negatively correlated with HIV-2 prevalence from 1985.

According to WebMD, Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 2 or HIV-2 are predominantly found in Africa. In 1984, 3 years after the first reports of the disease that was to known as AIDS, a causative viral agent known as Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV-1 has been discovered. A second type of HIV known as HIV-2 has also been found, isolated from AIDS patients in West Africa.

Modes of transmission from these two types of HIV are the same and are associated with similar opportunistic infections and AIDS. HIV-2 infections to human seems a bit milder and slower than HIV-1. However, as infectiousness from HIV-2 tends to increase as time goes by, infectiousness of HIV-1 is increased in a shorter time.

Historical male circumcision data are gathered by the research team from a large-scale HIV-2 serosurveys was conducted from 1985 onwards on the populations of 30 West African Cities.

According to Medical Express, the study involved researchers combining historical male circumcision frequency in 218 West African ethnic groups with demographic data to estimate male circumcision frequency for each West African city at various time points. Then, they matched HIV-2 prevalence with estimated male circumcision frequency in each city to identify any correlation.

Sousa and colleagues found out that cities with higher male circumcision rates in 1950 generally have lower HIV-2 prevalence at the time of the first serosurveys in 1985 to 1991.

Cities, Guinea-Bissau and Côte d'lvore, which are thought to have acted as epicenters during the HIV-2 emergence, had particularly low in male circumcision rates, reinforcing a negative correlation.

Although it is difficult to link the prevalence of HIV-2 to the circumcision rate due to different year points, authors of the study stated that, "HIV-2 may only have been able to achieve high prevalence in West African Cities where a substantial portion of the population were uncircumcised."

João Sousa added that the "lack of circumcision may have been a driving factor in initial HIV-2 emergence."