Posted on 01/28/2006 7:21:40 PM PST by chet_in_ny
For thousands of years, rabbis performed a simple procedure to cleanse the wound left by a ritual circumcision. Like Boy Scouts treating a snake bite, they quickly sucked blood from the cut and spit it aside, ostensibly disposing of any harmful impurities.
The procedure may seem pure 18th Century, but it is the subject of a clash between religion and science in modern-day New York.
Prompted by a child's death, the state health department is developing its first set of safety guidelines on the ritual of oral suction, which was abandoned by most Jews long ago but survived in a handful of Hasidic communities.
Doctors have long been concerned that the act, called "metzitzah b'peh" in Hebrew, could spread disease, but their argument became urgent last year when New York City health officials said the procedure had given a baby a fatal infection.
The illness was herpes simplex type 1, the common virus transmitted by saliva that causes cold sores. Usually harmless to adults, it can be deadly to newborns.
(Excerpt) Read more at 1010wins.com ...
An indication of poor hygiene and nothing to do with being intact. Dirty circumcised males have bad odor also.
That's true, but nuns get it who are virgins.
Not the viral type.
Not satisfied with my previous answer.
I asked my doctor about this as my grandmother died from cervical cancer. My doctor assured me that it was not hereditary and that the chance of contracting the viral form was minimal as I was in a long term monogamous relationship. My husband and I have been married for 25 years and he is my only partner. She didn't question whether my husband was cirqed or not. Also nuns have extremely low incidence if cervical cancer which is attributed to the fact that presumably they don't have sex. Cancers can grow anywhere but the viral forms need a form of transmission.
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