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Two Babies Have Contracted Herpes After Snip-N-Suck Circumcisions In 2013
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 3, 2013
Modified Apr 3, 2013
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Alec Tabak/Gothamist
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 3, 2013
Modified Apr 3, 2013
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Last year, the Board of Health unanimously approved a circumcision consent form that requires parents to sign a waiver before their infant can undergo the "metzitzah b’peh" ritual—the circumcision practice in which a mohel sucks the blood from a freshly snipped foreskin. Jewish groups fought the decision, but a judge ultimately ruled in favor of the city in January. It turns out that already in 2013, at least two babies have been infected with herpes directly because of the custom. And the mother of the latest victim blames the mohel for performing the rite without her consent.
According to Jewish Press, the baby survived after contacting the disease following the ritual, but the mother is adamant that the mohel did not have her permission. The Health Alert Network sent out this update about the incidents:
Direct oral suction of the infant penis during ritual Jewish circumcision (metzitzah b’peh) has been documented to transmit herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 to newborn males (1-5). In March 2013, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) received a report of a new case of HSV-1 in a newborn male attributable to direct oral suction. This is the second such case reported in New York City in a 3-month span and the 13th such case since 2000.
Similar to previous cases, the March case developed vesicular lesions on the scrotum in the weeks after ritual circumcision, and HSV-1 was isolated from lesions. In this specific case, the infant developed fever 7 days after circumcision and vesicular lesions the following day, and HSV-1 was isolated from lesions on the genitals. The infant had disseminated herpes infection but survived. Because only 70% of babies with neonatal herpes have vesicular lesions and 40% have fever at presentation, health care providers should consider herpes infection in infants being evaluated for sepsis, even in the absence of fever or vesicular lesions. In recently circumcised males, providers should also inquire about direct oral suction during ritual Jewish circumcision.
This comes during the same week that The Jewish Daily Forward wrote about Rabbi Hershel Schachter, a senior rabbinic leader at Yeshiva University, who claims that some NYC hospitals are purposefully suppressing disclosure of cases in which the herpes virus is being transmitted by mohels to newborns. He specifically called out New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, where he claims his daughter works as a nurse; the hospital refused to respond to the allegations.
But Maimonides Hospital in Brooklyn, which they say has "perhaps the largest clientele of Orthodox patients in the city," strongly denied the allegations. “Like all hospitals, Maimonides is required to report cases of infant herpes to the DOH, and we remain in compliance at all times with that requirement,” Eileen Tynion, assistant vice president, public relations for Maimonides.
Not counting the two latest cases, there have been 11 cases of herpes infection in Jewish newborns confirmed as a result of the ritual since 2000, according to the Department of Health. Recently, Israeli doctors studying the herpes infection believe it may be the cause of what many believe to be the noticeably higher number of learning disabled children in hasidic communities.
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bris
circumcision
consent
jewish
metzitzah b’peh
orthodox
snip-n-suck
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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