Male Circumcision and the Epidemic Emergence of HIV-2 in West Africa.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Epidemic HIV-2 (groups A and B) emerged in humans circa 1930-40. Its closest ancestors are SIVsmm infecting sooty mangabeys from southwestern Côte d'Ivoire. The earliest large-scale serological surveys of HIV-2 in West Africa (1985-91) show a patchy spread. Côte d'Ivoire and Guinea-Bissau had the highest prevalence rates by then, and phylogeographical analysis suggests they were the earliest epicenters. Wars and parenteral transmission have been hypothesized to have promoted HIV-2 spread. Male circumcision (MC) is known to correlate negatively with HIV-1 prevalence in Africa, but studies examining this issue for HIV-2 are lacking.

Methods

We reviewed published HIV-2 serosurveys for 30 cities of all West African countries and obtained credible estimates of real pre

SUBMITTER: Sousa JD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5142780 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature