Jewish Rabbi Explains The Significance Of Metzizah B'Peh (Infant Oral Suction Blood Ritual)

Note that this is Rabbi Chaim Levy. According to JewishAction:

"We are presently facing a significant divide within the Orthodox community over this practice. In the summer of 2004, a clinical study from Israel appeared in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, apparently demonstrating that the practice of metzitzah b’peh increases the risk of an infant contracting the herpes simplex virus (HSV).2 Early in 2005, news broke that a prominent mohel in the New York area had allegedly transmitted HSV to a small number of infant patients through his practice of metzitzah b’peh. The mohel in question was ordered by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to immediately desist from performing metzitzah b’peh. In December 2005, the commissioner of the same New York City department issued an “open letter to the Jewish community.” After documenting the statistically high number of HSV infections in infants who had had metzitzah b’peh the letter concluded:

During metzitzah b’peh the mouth of the mohel comes into direct contact with the baby’s circumcision cut, risking transmission of herpes simplex virus to the infant. While severe illness associated with this practice may be rare, because there is no proven way to reduce the risk of herpes infection posed by circumcision which includes metzitzah b’peh, the Health Department recommends that infants being circumcised not undergo metzitzah b’peh. To help protect their baby, parents should understand the risk of metzitzah b’peh—BEFORE the day of the bris, while there is time to explore other options….

The Department has reviewed all of the evidence and there exists no reasonable doubt that metzitzah b’peh can and has caused neonatal herpes infection. We have always maintained that it is our preference for the religious community to address these issues itself as long as the public’s health is protected. While some medical professionals and others in the Jewish community have called on the Department to completely ban metzitzah b’peh at this time, it is our opinion that educating the community through public health information and warnings is a more realistic approach."

https://jewishaction.com/jewish-world/metzitzah_bpeh_rabbinic_polemics/