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Last update - 07:58 05/12/2008
Traditional circumcision raises risk of infection, study shows
By Ofri Ilani
Tags: Jewish World, mohel 

Circumcision as performed by mohels, men whose profession is performing the Jewish ritual of brit milah, leads to a high rate of urinary tract infections among babies, according to a report released recently by physicians at Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petah Tikva.

The vast majority of Israeli Jews have their children circumcised by mohels. The religious obligation aside, many parents consider the ceremony of removing the foreskin to be hygienic and healthy. However, the study by the Schneider physicians, published in the pediatric journal the Archives of Disease in Childhood and headed by Prof. Yaakov Amir, found that circumcision conducted by a mohel leads in many cases to infections of the urinary tract that can significantly endanger the baby.

The researchers believe the infection is caused by the bandage left on the penis after circumcision. "For several years, we have noticed a wave of urinary tract infections among very young children - usually from the age of eight days on," Amir said. "We decided to investigate the phenomenon, and obtained figures from several hospitals."
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Researchers identified 162 cases of babies under two months old undergoing hospitalization for urinary tract infections. Of these, 108 were boys and 54 girls. "We saw the same phenomenon in each hospital - a wave of urinary tract infections around the ninth day after pregnancy," he said.

"By contrast, among girls there was no such wave, but a gradual rise in cases over the first year of life. So it was clear to us that this issue is related to circumcision."

In addition, they found urinary tract infections to be far more common among babies who had undergone circumcision by a mohel rather than a physician. "There are children in Israel who undergo circumcision by a doctor. We saw that there is less infection among them than among those who had the procedure performed by a mohel," Amir said. "Without appropriate and intensive treatment, the bacteria could reach the blood, possibly even causing death."

"When the mohel finishes cutting, he takes a piece of dressing and wraps it around the member. That's the root of the problem - the bandage doesn't allow the baby to urinate completely. The baby sometimes stays for 15 or 20 hours with this bandage, and if the circumcision is performed before Shabbat, it is sometimes two days before the mohel removes the bandage," Amir added.

Menachem Fleischman, a mohel who supervises new members of the profession in the central region of the country, said they must be aware of the effect the bandage could have. "It is preferable that the bandage does not press too hard. One must pay attention, and a mohel who is adequately trained will make sure to surround the area with special cotton wool right after cutting."
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  1.   Report: 07:44  |  Boaz 05/12/08
  2.   the unkindest cut 09:34  |  sol kashberg 05/12/08
  3.   When I Was About Eight I Had A Flashback... 09:44  |  Yosemite 05/12/08
  4.   Circumcision 10:51  |  Elannah 05/12/08
  5.   a good mohel will change the bandages every day 10:55  |  ces 05/12/08
  6.   come on 11:47  |  Arie 05/12/08
  7.   Boaz #2 12:06  |  sol kashberg 05/12/08
  8.   Rabbi Gottlieb`s new series-Science Matters for the Non-scientist 13:17  |  S 05/12/08
  9.   Mutilating children is always wrong. 13:24  |  Boycott 05/12/08
  10.   Sol Kashberg - in great respect 13:31  |  Allon 05/12/08
  11.   ces #5 13:48  |  sol kashberg 05/12/08
  12.   Circumcision 13:49  |  DT 05/12/08
  13.   Unsurprising 14:04  |  KJZ 05/12/08
  14.   Brit Shalom 14:12  |  Mark Lyndon 05/12/08
  15.   Oh goodie ! Heres a chance to out law cercumcision ! 14:13  |  Eruv Rob 05/12/08
  16.   circumcision 14:24  |  mike 05/12/08
  17.   Infections: All EIGHT of my boys had a bris.Not one 15:12  |  dov epstein 05/12/08
  18.   UTI`S DUE TO CIRCUMCISION 15:19  |  DR L S GRITZMAN 05/12/08
  19.   Sol - much research done when coming to your conclusions? 15:24  |  Hannah 05/12/08
  20.   circumcision 15:27  |  Tina Hart 05/12/08
  21.   And what`s the infection rate of those who don`t get circumcised? 15:33  |  Raymond in DC 05/12/08
  22.   and prayer can make you go blind 16:06  |  Avi 05/12/08
  23.   I have attended well over 100 brit milot and heard of 100`s more 16:15  |  Dr. Isador Peach 05/12/08
  24.   how nice to see 16:19  |  nita 05/12/08
  25.   Who trains the mohelim? 16:20  |  Sherlock Holmes 05/12/08
  26.   circumcision is cruel anyways 16:29  |  Berk 05/12/08
  27.   circumcision is barbaric and should be illegal 16:32  |  rg 05/12/08
  28.   Circumcision is idiotic 16:33  |  MIKE 05/12/08
  29.   Circumcision 16:48  |  Pieter 05/12/08
  30.   cicumcision 17:18  |  elliot 05/12/08
  31.   dov epstein and the name of your mohel is? 17:24  |  snip 05/12/08
  32.   3000 years of "clinical trials" discredits this "research" 17:28  |  Dr. L. Brnd 05/12/08
  33.   Its the tight bandage, Thats all 17:46  |  Avi 05/12/08
  34.   #1 BOAZ 18:36  |  Nathaniel 05/12/08
  35.   circs 18:56  |  jack l 05/12/08
  36.   The real fault 19:20  |  MichaelF 05/12/08
  37.   #13 DR L S GRITZMAN-go see a statistician 19:23  |  Dr S Nade Dip GU Med 05/12/08
  38.   #13 DR L S GRITZMAN-go see a statistician 19:30  |  Dr S Nade Dip GU Med 05/12/08
  39.   Better Infection Control 19:31  |  invisible hand 05/12/08
  40.   #13 DR L S GRITZMAN-go see a statistician 19:51  |  Dr S Nade Dip GU Med 05/12/08
  41.   mogen clamp and no bandage no risk 20:42  |  Dr. Friedman 05/12/08
  42.   Unfortunately, this is a poor article, it could have been 21:35  |  Jacob Blues 05/12/08
  43.   State should require certification for mohels 22:59  |  Orkochav 05/12/08
  44.   JESUSALEN 23:07  |  cristian 05/12/08
  45.   #6 Arie 23:50  |  Benjamina 05/12/08
  46.   Re: the unkindest cut 23:50  |  Oriv 05/12/08
  47.   SHAME 00:13  |  joe 06/12/08
  48.   mohel v doctors 01:02  |  lorne 06/12/08
  49.   Doctors are expensive and mohels are 06:39  |  Che Vive 06/12/08
  50.   Haaretz at it again 10:12  |  Zelkha 06/12/08
  51.   Pieter #29 13:05  |  lindiwe 06/12/08
  52.   UTI and circumcision 14:14  |  urologist 06/12/08
  53.   Doctor number 18 14:38  |  urologist 06/12/08
  54.   But in Africa 14:54  |  Jackie 06/12/08
  55.   HaAretz Science in the service of the Yevseks 19:37  |  Zev Davis 06/12/08
  56.   Yes, Virginia, there is certification . . . . 19:50  |  Zev Davis9 06/12/08
  57.   Sherlock, sometimes a mohel will delay the brit . . . 00:50  |  Zev Davis9 07/12/08
  58.   World Health Organization recommends... 04:46  |  TM 07/12/08
  59.   Blues, did you make a typo or are you insane? 13:35  |  Theodore 16/12/08
  60.   #59, sorry 13:46  |  Theodore 16/12/08
  61.   Female "circumcision" not the same! 16:46  |  Stephanie 18/12/08
  62.   Re: Female "circumcision" not the same! 22:28  |  Mark Lyndon 25/12/08
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