Why No Precautions?

Reported

A two-week old boy died at a Brooklyn hospital in September after contracting herpes through a religious circumcision ritual that ignited controversy in 2005 after another infant died, the Daily News has learned. The unidentified infant died Sept. 28, 2011, at Maimonides Hospital, according to a spokeswoman for the city Medical Examiner, who confirmed the death after a News inquiry. The cause of death was listed as “disseminated herpes simplex virus Type 1, complicating ritual circumcision with oral suction.” City officials declined to comment Friday. It’s unclear who performed the circumcision.

In 2004, city health officials revealed that a baby boy died after a circumcision carried out by a Rockland County rabbi who specializes in the centuries-old, ultra-Orthodox ritual known as metzizah b’ peh. Under the practice, the rabbi or mohel removes blood from the wound with his mouth — a practice city health officials have criticized, saying it carried “inherent risks” for babies.

As for precautions, there's this approach:

...As for metzitzah, many poskim have sanctioned the use of a pipette in order to reduce the risk of infection. Most of the Gedolei Yisroel, however, have urged that the practice metztitzah b’peh should be continued, notwithstanding several cases of complications which have occurred in recent years. We find that even though the medical basis for metzitzah b’peh is unclear, the gedolim allowed its practice on Shabbos, despite the possibility of chilul shabbos shelo b’makom sakanah. They recognized the dangers of tampering with minhag yisroel. Certainly, the risk of infection is not altered by having the father perform metzitzah; he may be more infectious than the mohel.

As a pediatrician, I will continue to provide my medical opinion only when sought by a rav or a mohel. Parents should consider their own minhagim and involve their rav when selecting a mohel, rather than choose one based on his medical expertise.

Sincerely,

David M. Klein, MD FAAP
Boro Park Pediatric Associates, PLLC
Brooklyn, NY

(Residing in Bayswater, Far Rockaway)

And worse:

...speculation that the Democratic governor-elect may tap New York City health commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden for the state’s top medical post has some Orthodox activists worried.

Crain’s New York Business reported that Frieden’s efforts seem to have caught the eye of the reform-minded Spitzer.
Placing Frieden at the helm of the state health department would likely signal an end to the state’s relatively passive approach to the metzitza b’peh controversy. Earlier this year the state’s current health commissioner, Dr. Antonia Novella, met with Orthodox leaders and announced a set of guidelines that practitioners of metzitza b’peh should use to avoid the transmission of herpes to infants. Those nonbinding guidelines were rejected by Frieden.

“It would alienate a very large faction of our community,” said Rabbi Jacob Spitzer, a Borough Park activist on health-related issues who has met with Frieden to discuss the city’s investigation of neonatal herpes, “I would strongly advise the Spitzer administration to look for another candidate.”