In the UK, one mother, Clare Henderson, noticed that her baby daughter, Brooke, had developed sores around her lips. Clare told one of her friends, who immediately advised Clare to take Brooke to the hospital.
The doctors all agreed – Clare had made the right choice in being so prompt.
The sores on Brooke’s mouth weren’t limited to her lips. They had also begun growing in her throat, and she had to be put on an anti-viral drip for five days to clear all the symptoms.
Brooke is now back in full health, and her mother is anxious to share their story with other new parents on Facebook. “The moral of the story,” Clare wrote in her post, “is DO NOT let anyone kiss your newborns mouth.”
After going to the hospital, Clare realized that her daughter had developed the sores as a symptom of oral herpes. A recent adult visitor who had kissed Brooke’s lips had spread the virus to her. Oral herpes isn’t a serious condition for adults, but it can actually kill newborns. The virus causes high fevers, seizures, as well as liver and brain damage in infants.
Because the virus isn’t as severe a condition for adults as it is for babies, it’s not always evident when someone may be carrying strains of the virus. In fact, 85% of the adult population carries the HSV-1, but may not be affected by it.
Brooke’s story is alarming, but new parents shouldn’t go overboard on their safety precautions, Dr. Andrew Orr assures us. Since so much of the adult population has the virus, many infants are immune to the disease because their mothers already carried the virus.
All the same, it never hurts to be too careful: don’t allow anyone with cold sores to kiss a newborn child, ensure that everyone washes their hands before interacting with an infant, and advise anyone with cold sores to clear their symptoms before paying a visit.
