Christians around the world withstood torture and death to celebrate mass. THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A DOCUMENTED CASE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPREAD FROM THE COMMUNION CUP. I have cited the peer reviewed research in an earlier and I will do it again:
Bishop Doyle from the Diocese of Texas has banned the practice of intincting the host (which is less sanitary than drinking from the communion cup because people's fingers sometimes end up touching the wine) for the time being and has ordered holy water stoups to be drained. Still there has never been a documented case of an infectious disease being transmitted from the communion cup. Every Episcopal church I have been to take the appropriate safeguards--that is, wiping the interior and exterior rim between communicants, use of care to rotate the cloth during use, and use of a clean cloth for each service - to diminish this risk
Letter to the Editor from CDC Scientists,
"Risk of Infectious Disease Transmission from a Common Communion Cup" American Journal of Infection Control (Vol. 26, pgs. 538-539).
Key quotes: "no documented transmission of any infectious disease has ever been traced to the use of a common communion cup" and "the risk for infectious disease transmission by a common communion cup is very low"
Peer-Reviewed Article,
"The hazard of infection from the shared communion cup" Journal of Infection (1988) (Vol 16, pgs. 3-23).
Key quote: "No episode of disease attributable to the shared communion cup has ever been reported. Currently available data do not provide any support for suggesting that the practice of sharing a common communion cup should be abandoned because it might spread infection."