Genital Warts Linked to HIV
Men carrying the virus for genital warts may be at increased risk of developing HIV, a new study claims.
The study of Kenyan men has raised the possibility that vaccinating against genital warts could drive down the rates of infection of HIV, which is causing devastation in Asia and Africa.
Scientists from the University of North Carolina tested 2,168 Kenyan men at the start of the study and discovered that half tested positive for Human Papilloma Virus, which is the cause of genital warts and cervical cancer in women.
Over the course of 3.
5 years, 6% of the men with HPV developed HIV, compered to just under 4% of those who at the start of the study tested negative for HPV.
The researchers made controls for the risk factors for HIV and eventually showed that men with HPV were 80% more likely than those without to become infected with HIV.
In the latest study, even when researchers factored in the impact of circumcision on HIV infection, sexual history and whether the men had genital herpes, which is also associated with HIV, there was a strong link between HPV and AIDS.
The results suggest that the HPV virus itself may make someone more succeptible to HIV.
The results are part of a wider study into HIV, which showed that circumcision reduces a man's likelihood of developing HIV.
Genital warts is a very common sexually transmitted infection.
Sufferers develop small warts around the genitals and anus.
The warts can be controlled with topical creams like Warticon and Aldara.
However though Warticon and Aldara can treat visible warts, the virus itself is incurable.
A vaccine for the strain of HPV that causes genital warts has however been developed, named Gardasil.
Though vaccination programs have focused on young women, in order to reduce incidences of cervical cancer, Gardasil was recently approved to vaccinate young men.
While many Western governments have launched vaccination programs for women, the costs of a vaccination program in the third world, worst hit by HIV, would likely prove probative.
However it is likely that the team, lead by Dr.
Jennifer S.
Smith, will conduct trials to see whether the vaccine could reduce rates of HIV transmission.
In a written statement, Smith said "Finding a vaccine to prevent HIV is the greatest hope for curbing the world's AIDS pandemic, but so far there is no such vaccine.
However, there is a vaccine to prevent specific types of HPV infection, and vaccinating young men before they become sexually active could potentially help prevent the spread of HIV.
"
The study of Kenyan men has raised the possibility that vaccinating against genital warts could drive down the rates of infection of HIV, which is causing devastation in Asia and Africa.
Scientists from the University of North Carolina tested 2,168 Kenyan men at the start of the study and discovered that half tested positive for Human Papilloma Virus, which is the cause of genital warts and cervical cancer in women.
Over the course of 3.
5 years, 6% of the men with HPV developed HIV, compered to just under 4% of those who at the start of the study tested negative for HPV.
The researchers made controls for the risk factors for HIV and eventually showed that men with HPV were 80% more likely than those without to become infected with HIV.
In the latest study, even when researchers factored in the impact of circumcision on HIV infection, sexual history and whether the men had genital herpes, which is also associated with HIV, there was a strong link between HPV and AIDS.
The results suggest that the HPV virus itself may make someone more succeptible to HIV.
The results are part of a wider study into HIV, which showed that circumcision reduces a man's likelihood of developing HIV.
Genital warts is a very common sexually transmitted infection.
Sufferers develop small warts around the genitals and anus.
The warts can be controlled with topical creams like Warticon and Aldara.
However though Warticon and Aldara can treat visible warts, the virus itself is incurable.
A vaccine for the strain of HPV that causes genital warts has however been developed, named Gardasil.
Though vaccination programs have focused on young women, in order to reduce incidences of cervical cancer, Gardasil was recently approved to vaccinate young men.
While many Western governments have launched vaccination programs for women, the costs of a vaccination program in the third world, worst hit by HIV, would likely prove probative.
However it is likely that the team, lead by Dr.
Jennifer S.
Smith, will conduct trials to see whether the vaccine could reduce rates of HIV transmission.
In a written statement, Smith said "Finding a vaccine to prevent HIV is the greatest hope for curbing the world's AIDS pandemic, but so far there is no such vaccine.
However, there is a vaccine to prevent specific types of HPV infection, and vaccinating young men before they become sexually active could potentially help prevent the spread of HIV.
"
Source...