Baby's Herpes Death Linked to Circumcision

Baby believed to have gotten herpes from ceremony
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 5, 2012 11:51 AM CST
Baby's Herpes Death Linked to Circumcision
The New York Daily News has found that a baby who died after a circumcision in September died from herpes contracted during a religious ceremony.   (Shutterstock)

A two-week-old baby who died last year from a circumcision ritual contracted a deadly case of herpes from the ceremony, reports the New York Daily News. The city medical examiner said that the cause of death was “disseminated herpes simplex virus Type 1, complicating ritual circumcision with oral suction.” While it is not known who performed that circumcision, there have been several cases in New York in recent years of babies contracting herpes from the ultra-Orthodox ritual known as metzizah b’peh, when blood is removed from the baby's wound by the rabbi's or mohel's mouth. (More circumcision stories.)

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