We may have read a lot of articles about not kissing babies on the lips. However, people still think the seriousness of the situation is not real. After all, an act of love can’t be that harmless, right?
Wrong. Newborn babies are fragile and exposing them to viruses that can be contracted by kissing can be fatal.
One mom’s recent experienced shared on Facebook, proved once again that people still lack awareness of this rule.
Christa Leandra Valdez shared her horrifying ordeal after one of her newborn’s visitors kissed him on the lips without her knowing.
What started out as a simple rash in a toe, soon became a living nightmare for one mom.
Christa recounted her ordeal by saying that her son, Ostiano, got a red rash on his toe. The rash then started to blister, and just kept getting worst. She took him to different doctors who diagnosed Ostiano with Herpetic Whitlow, a Type 1 Herpes Simplex Virus.
The worried mom brought her child to different doctors. After a culture sample from his foot, he was diagnosed with Herpetic Whitlow.
Herpetic Whitlow can usually be found in fingers and thumbs, but in Ostiano’s case, it was on his toe. One of his doctors theorized that someone who carries the herpes virus might have kissed the baby on the mouth and transferred the virus to him.
The following days, the lesions grew worse, even looking like the baby’s toe would fall off. However, doctors told the mother it would eventually go away.
According to Wikipedia, herpetic whitlow is a lesion that typically affects the fingers and thumbs, but in some occasions can occur on toes or the nail cuticle. It can be caused by both Type 1 and Type 2 Herpes Simplex Virus.
The doctors told Christa that someone likely kissed her son’s mouth and the baby transferred the virus from his mouth to his toe.
The lesions may be accompanied by fever and swollen lymph nodes, and has no cure. It normally goes away on its own in two to three weeks. However, worse cases of Herpes Simplex can lead to encephalitis, meningitis or blindness.
Since Ostiano is now a carrier of the virus, he will be more prone to cold sores outbreak as he gets older. His mother shared their experience to warn other people of the implications of a seemingly harmless action.
