Health officials in New York are advising members of the city’s ultra-Orthodox population to stay away from or take additional steps to reduce the potential harm of a thousands of years old Jewish circumcision ritual that has been linked to four recent cases of herpes in newborns. Three cases of herpes simplex virus 1 infections have been detected in newborns since Dec. 1, 2019, and a fourth case was reported in September 2019, health officials said Sunday, adding that all of the babies were all hospitalized, given medication, and are now recovering. The metzitzah b’peh ritual involves a mohel, or circumciser, putting his mouth directly on the child’s genitals and sucking blood away from the circumcision. Mohels have received five commissioner’s orders since 2014 banning them from performing the practice. Health officials have provided harm-reduction strategies to Orthodox parents to “build a bridge between what is a ritual that doesn’t seem medically OK, to some medical strategies that at least reduce harm,” said Dr. Demetre Daskalakis of the New York City health department.
