A prospective observational study of 176 men coinfected withhuman immunodeficiency virus and herpes simplex virustype 2 (HSV-2) was conducted to assess whether their sexualpartners may be at an increased risk of HSV-2 from male circumcision (MC) wounds. Preoperative and weekly penilelavage samples were tested for penile HSV-2 shedding. Prevalence risk ratios (PRRs) were estimated using Poisson regression. Detectable penile HSV-2 shedding was present in9.7% of men (17 of 176) before MC, compared with 12.9%(22 of 170) at 1 week (PRR, 1.33; 95% confidence interval[CI], .74â2.38) and 14.8% (23 of 155) at 2 weeks (PRR, 1.50;95% CI, .86â2.62) after MC. HSV-2 shedding was loweramong men with healed MC wounds (adjusted PRR, 0.62;95% CI, .35â1.08). Men undergoing MC should be counseledon sexual abstinence and condom use.
