Circumcision and HIV: Difference between revisions

Line 106:

|url=https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM198610303151818

|pubmedID=3762636

|}}</ref> Fink proposed in his letter: "I suspect that men in the United States, who, as compared with those in Africa and elsewhere, have had less acquisition of [[AIDS]], have benefited from the high rate of newborn circumcision in the United States," regardless of the fact that the United States has one of the highest circumcision rates, and one of the highest [[HIV]] rates, in the western (industrialized) world (compare with European countries, Canda, and Australia).<ref>{{REFweb

|}}</ref> Fink proposed in his letter: "I suspect that men in the United States, who, as compared with those in Africa and elsewhere, have had less acquisition of [[AIDS]], have benefited from the high rate of newborn [[circumcision]] in the United States," regardless of the fact that the United States has one of the highest circumcision rates, and one of the highest [[HIV]] rates, in the western (industrialized) world (compare with European countries, Canda, and Australia).<ref>{{REFweb

|url=http://www.who.int/hiv/facts/hiv2003/en/

|title=A global view of HIV infection

Line 142:

|Source="This Little Operation". ''Marked in Your Flesh.'' p.206-208

}}

Alcena and Fink lacked a hypothesis to explain why the foreskin would be an entry point for HIV infection, but this was supplied by circumcision promoter [[Gerald N. Weiss]] and two colleagues. Weiss et al. (1993) produced the plausible but incorrect hypothesis that [[Langerhans cells]] attracted HIV. A medical journal in Israel was willing to publish the paper by Weiss et al.<ref name="weiss1993">{{REFjournal

|last=Weiss

|first=Gerald N.

|init=GN

|author-link=Gerald N. Weiss

|last2=Sanders

|first2=

|init2=M

|author2-link=

|last3=Westbrook

|first3=

|init3=KC

|author3-link=

|etal=no

|title=The distribution and density of Langerhans cells in the human prepuce: site of a diminished immune response?

|journal= Isr J Med Sci

|location=

|date=1993-01

|volume=20

|issue=1

|article=

|page=

|pages=42-3

|url=

|archived=

|quote=

|pubmedID=8454447

|pubmedCID=

|DOI=

|accessdate=2022-10-28

}}</ref>.

Fink abandoned the circumcision/[[HIV]] controversy in 1991, and he died in 1994. He left behind an indelible legacy nonetheless; the circumcision/[[HIV]] hypothesis continues to be supported by researchers and scientists that are adopting his assertions and writing studies based upon them, and the campaign to establish a causal link between [[HIV]] infection and the presence of the foreskin continues to this day.

@@ Line 106: / Line 106: @@
   |url=https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM198610303151818
   |pubmedID=3762636
-  |}}</ref> Fink proposed in his letter: "I suspect that men in the United States, who, as compared with those in Africa and elsewhere, have had less acquisition of [[AIDS]], have benefited from the high rate of newborn circumcision in the United States," regardless of the fact that the United States has one of the highest circumcision rates, and one of the highest [[HIV]] rates, in the western (industrialized) world (compare with European countries, Canda, and Australia).<ref>{{REFweb
+  |}}</ref> Fink proposed in his letter: "I suspect that men in the United States, who, as compared with those in Africa and elsewhere, have had less acquisition of [[AIDS]], have benefited from the high rate of newborn [[circumcision]] in the United States," regardless of the fact that the United States has one of the highest circumcision rates, and one of the highest [[HIV]] rates, in the western (industrialized) world (compare with European countries, Canda, and Australia).<ref>{{REFweb
   |url=http://www.who.int/hiv/facts/hiv2003/en/
   |title=A global view of HIV infection
@@ Line 142: / Line 142: @@
   |Source="This Little Operation". ''Marked in Your Flesh.'' p.206-208
 }}
+Alcena and Fink lacked a hypothesis to explain why the foreskin would be an entry point for HIV infection, but this was supplied by circumcision promoter [[Gerald N. Weiss]] and two colleagues. Weiss et al. (1993) produced the plausible but incorrect hypothesis that [[Langerhans cells]] attracted HIV. A medical journal in Israel was willing to publish the paper by Weiss et al.<ref name="weiss1993">{{REFjournal
+ |last=Weiss
+ |first=Gerald N.
+ |init=GN
+ |author-link=Gerald N. Weiss
+ |last2=Sanders
+ |first2=
+ |init2=M
+ |author2-link=
+ |last3=Westbrook
+ |first3=
+ |init3=KC
+ |author3-link=
+ |etal=no
+ |title=The distribution and density of Langerhans cells in the human prepuce: site of a diminished immune response?
+ |journal= Isr J Med Sci
+ |location=
+ |date=1993-01
+ |volume=20
+ |issue=1
+ |article=
+ |page=
+ |pages=42-3
+ |url=
+ |archived=
+ |quote=
+ |pubmedID=8454447
+ |pubmedCID=
+ |DOI=
+ |accessdate=2022-10-28
+}}</ref>.
 Fink abandoned the circumcision/[[HIV]] controversy in 1991, and he died in 1994. He left behind an indelible legacy nonetheless; the circumcision/[[HIV]] hypothesis continues to be supported by researchers and scientists that are adopting his assertions and writing studies based upon them, and the campaign to establish a causal link between [[HIV]] infection and the presence of the foreskin continues to this day.