Mom’s earnest warning after a simple kiss put the daughter in the hospital for four nights

Jaime Lippold noted that four-year-old Aubree had a spot on her cheek but didn’t think it was a cause for concern – before she started getting fevers, before finally being diagnosed with HSV-1, the herpes simplex virus

A mother has issued an alert after her daughter spent four nights in hospital after a simple kiss left her desperately ill.

Jaime Lippold noticed that Aubree, four, had a spot on her cheek but didn’t think it was a cause for concern.

However, it soon began to increase in size daily and appeared to be sore and infected – leading to a series of visits to the GP and hospital.

Eventually, Aubree was diagnosed with HSV-1, the herpes simplex virus — caused by a simple kiss on mum Jamie’s cheek.

Doctors in her hometown of Springfield, Illinois, US, first thought Aubree had impetigo — an infection that causes red, itchy sores.

But the next morning after the initial diagnosis, the wound had doubled in size and Aubree was running a fever. This prompted the concerned mother to take the four-year-old to the children’s hospital.

Aubree was given “harsh” antibiotics while they awaited test results before Jamie’s fears were confirmed.

Jamie said, “Because I had a cold sore that hadn’t fully healed and was messing around kissing my daughter, I gave her the virus through a tiny pimple on her face,” Ms Lippold wrote on Facebook.

she said Yahoo News Australia that finding out she was the cause of the disease was devastating.

“It’s very hard for me to know that it all started with a kiss from me,” she said.

“I had no idea that HSV was so easy to transfer. Actually, I wasn’t even aware of the severity of HSV. I just thought it was a ‘common cold sore’.”

The herpes virus is usually harmless and many adults live with it without knowing they are infected, but it can be extremely dangerous for babies.

Symptoms can include fever, sore throat, blisters, and even seizures, and it can be fatal if it spreads to other organs.

But the virus can attack the brain with devastating effects.

dr Benjamin Butler-Reid of Highfield Surgery, Blackpool, said: “Cold sores are caused by the herpes simplex virus and can be easily spread through skin contact.

“In adults, it rarely causes serious illness and can be treated with a cream or patches that your pharmacist can provide.

“Some groups are more susceptible to the virus, such as pregnant women, immunocompromised patients and babies.

“If babies are exposed, they can contract a form called neonatal herpes. This sometimes only affects the eyes, mouth or skin and your baby will make a full recovery in most cases.

“However, when the condition spreads to the organs, it can indeed be very serious, leading to death in about a third of the cases.

“The condition can be passed on when a person with a cold sore kisses a baby or when the mother breastfeeds with a cold sore on her breast. For this reason, it is extremely important to take preventive measures to reduce the chances of your baby contracting herpes.

“If you have or have a history of cold sores, do not kiss babies, make sure you wash your hands before touching a baby and wash your hands before breastfeeding and cover any cold sores to avoid that you accidentally touch your mouth chest.”

Symptoms of herpes in newborns include lethargy, irritability, your baby won’t feed, high temperature, or a rash on the skin, eyes, and mouth.

If your baby has these symptoms, contact your GP or call 111 for advice.