Cold Sores

[mrsbenglish.livejournal.com]

Hi all,
This is not exactly vagina related...in fact it's not at all...but you're all so knowledgeable I figured this was a good place to ask since I'm not sure where else to turn.

So, my sister has a scabbed over cold sore on her lip and she came to visit us today. I saw her kiss my 3 year old daughter on the lips and apparently I looked worried because my sister immediately defended herself and said "It's not contagious any longer, it's been scabbed over for a few days now."

I did some googling and found that she is apparently misinformed because, according to the internet, cold sores are actually contagious as long as they are visible and even sometimes for up to 2 weeks before and after they appear.

This is most worrying to me, not because of my 3 year old, because I know she is bound to catch HSV-1 at some point (however, to my knowledge, my partner and I do not have it), but because I have a 2 week old baby. My sister says she did not kiss the baby on the lips, but she did kiss his head. My 3 year old LOVES her baby brother and smothers him with hugs and kisses (not on the mouth) every morning.

I'm an extra paranoid mama because I recently read an article about how dangerous herpes viruses can be to newborns.

Could you all perhaps ease my mind a bit? What is the likeliness that my 3 year old will catch this and spread it to her brother? Can the baby catch it from kisses on the head? Is the cold sore actually a lot less contagious once it is scabbed over?

Comments

[sabrebabe.livejournal.com]

Well, I don't know if this will make you feel better, but there are several types of HSV. Each one causes different problems, and the one you are *not* immune to, will be the one that causes those problems. I have the one that causes plantar warts on the bottom of my feet (which completely disappeared after my second pregnancy and haven't returned after 22 years). Still, I ended up with on one my hand for several years until it went away. My husband and my daughter have the one that causes cold sores. My sons have the same one that their father had that causes warts on their hands. We have all shared cups, utinsels, kisses, etc, and each of us has our own HSV and hasn't cropped up in anyone else in the immediate family. I've even shared drinks with a non-family member who had cold sores (mouth) and I *still* didn't get cold sores.

What I'm trying to say is, that your baby will end up with a strain of HSV at some point that they are not immune to. Everyone on the planet has been exposed to HSV. What your baby will catch will be the one she's not immune to. And your baby gets her immunities, for the most part (in the first year), from you. She might be terribly susceptible and get lots of them, or she may have a super immune system and get none of them, but she will be exposed to them a lot. Best thing to do is to be ready for any and all *possibilities*, and not freak out over them.

THe first (and best) thing I ever learned about being a parent came from one of my favourite books: Don't Panic! (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). THe second (same book): Always know where your towel is. (I have *always* packed a towel in the diaper bag, and have one in each of the vehicles. You never know how damn useful a towel is until you don't have one!)

Panicking makes you forget how to think. And whatever happens, you need to keep a clam head if you want to get through anything. You can freely panic *after* the event. Diseases, injuries and the like, happen all the time to all children at all ages. How you learn to respond to them is the best thing you can do.

Don't Panic. If your baby has been exposed to HSV, then, since you know she was kissed and where, nothing like a good bath, and washing the site with a bit of rubbing alcohol won't fix. Outside the body, most diseases are fairly fragile and and be literally wiped out with a good scrubbing. But, it can be overdone and your baby doesn't develop enough antibodies because she's not being exposed to anything that would cause her body to react to them.

It's a tough balance, but the majority of us make it to adulthood without too much wear and tear. :D

DON'T PANIC!!

[operatic-diva.livejournal.com]

This is a fantastic comment.

[nickelshoe.livejournal.com]

Plantar warts are not actually caused by herpes. They are caused by human papilloma virus.

[sabrebabe.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's new to me. I was told by the doctor (when I was a child, aaaaages ago) when he was explain it all to my mother that it was "one of the many different kinds of HSV, and that was the one I had. IT just sort of stuck with me. :D

So now I get to update my knowledge! Thank you!

[mandaryn.livejournal.com]

Makes sense. As far as I know there are 2 main strains of HSV and MANY of HPV. I can see where the confusion is though, that one letter in the middle there. ;)

[arrivee.livejournal.com]

agree with the fantasticness of this comment.

i got HSV-1 at about a month old from my grandfather and broke out with cold sores. i'm now 22 and deal with a number of cold sores a year, but otherwise am all well and good. it actually helped me when i was exposed to chicken pox when i was old (strain of HSV) wherein i got legitimately 20 spots. :)

[sabrebabe.livejournal.com]

That Chicken Pox thing happened with my daughter. A rather ruthless strain went through the Kindergarten she went to and they had to actually send all the kids home for a week, it was so bad. She didn't spot nearly half as bad as the other kids, but she has the cold sores. I think she only had one pox that scarred.

The boys on the other hand... *sigh* Head to toe, even on the bottoms of their feet and hands and scalp. And it was summer. :P Stripped them down to their diapers and made them sit on an old wool couch. If they had to itch anything, they used the couch (like a bear on a tree) rather than scratching holes in their skin with their nails. They made it through with only one or two scars. We still have the couch, too! (It's called "the itchy pink couch", even to this day)

[mennamachine.livejournal.com]

Chicken Pox is actually a strain of Herpes zoster, but they are related. :)

[arrivee.livejournal.com]

this is definitely what i meant, but certainly more accurate! :)

[mennamachine.livejournal.com]

I'm a microbiology nerd. :)

[archangelbeth]

It is my understanding that, when scabbed over, HSV is much less contagious. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/coldsores/id449103.pdf says: "Cold sores are contagious at all stages. However, they are the most contagious when they break open and fluid comes out."

So while there's a definite chance that your kids have not actually been exposed... I would tell your sister NOT to kiss your baby or the kiss-happy kid till your sister's cold sores are healed, because occular herpes (eye herpes) and brain herpes are painful, dangerous, and potentially deadly, respectively. Rare? Oh heck yeah. Extremely rare. But when she can control her smooching urges and lessen the danger even further, I would consider that the responsible thing to do. (I have oral herpes as well, and don't kiss anyone till it's healed entirely! And considering how much I chew my scabs (*sigh*), that can be quite a while.)

[shellynoir.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that your kids will be fine.

I would maybe concentrate on feeding the kids foods rich in Lysine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysine for the next few weeks to help them ward off any viruses they've picked up from your inconsiderate sister.

We're having a whooping cough epidemic in our area right now, so I'm tempted to say that an adult who hasn't been immunized against DPT in the last five years has no business kissing little kids and babies...Perhaps if you mentioned that she'd be less defensive about the oral herpes issue.

[princessselene.livejournal.com]

The whooping cough epidemic in our state (WA) is insane. At this point, I'm considering anyone that's family WITHOUT the vaccine has no business coming around this baby when she's born. A little overprotective? Yes. Reasonable? Hell yeah. We lost our first daughter at six weeks....I'd rather have people mad at me than see the inside of a NICU ever again.

The WA State Dept. of Health and CDC also say to get it two weeks before any contact with an infant. I already have a BIL that thinks he doesn't need to get it because OREGON doesn't have an epidemic. Sure. That's why they're starting to report an uptick in confirmed cases there now too.

[barrelofrain.livejournal.com]

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[darlahood.livejournal.com]

Slightly off topic, but I'm really leary of folks who say, "don't worry I'm not contagious!" My MIL brought food over to my house while she was sick with walking pneumonia. Saw her a few days later and she was wearing a mask because her doctor said she was still contagious. Frickin idiot. Argh. We've been sick for 3 weeks for her refusing to go to bed and stay there.

[yumcheesy.livejournal.com]

This is exactly why I hate when people kiss newborn babies (especially on the lips, why?!!), it makes me so MAD! Babies don't have the same immune system and adults can spread all sorts of things to them accidentally :-(

You should have a talk with your sister and anyone else trying to kiss your baby, and set some firm boundaries.
Cold sores are a life-long nightmare, children don't deserve that painful and embarassing torture.

[archangelbeth]

Cold sores are not necessarily a "nightmare" or even "torture." They have a good chance of never showing up again after a while (my spouse thinks he had them as a kid, and has never had an outbreak in the over 20 years I've known him). When they do show up, they can be treated with anti-virals if they're a nuisance. For the most part, cold sores are a nuisance, and uncomfortable, and can be really ugly on the driver's license picture. (I think I had a cold sore -- one a year! -- for 3 years running on the day of my license photo.)

It's just that cold sores can be spread to the genitals, the eyes (and brain), the nose, and if there is a cut in the skin it's not impossible for the virus to get in there. Further, a baby's immune system may be less able to handle the virus (and they don't know not to touch the outbreak site and their eyes!), causing more extensive, painful, and potentially dangerous outbreaks. So it's important to know what turns a nuisance into a bigger nuisance, or a danger.

But my life with cold sores is hardly a nightmare. Even with 3 years of giant-cold-sore showing on my driver's license. And anti-virals rock.

Perspective.

[sweetchild92.livejournal.com]

Mine really go away within a DAY with just a dab of abreva <3

My coldsores have definitely been a lot less tortuous than the acne I've dealt with since middle school (If only I could put something on pimples to clear them in a day *sigh*)

[sweetchild92.livejournal.com]

I definitely wouldn't call my "appear a few times a year" cold sores torture. They can be covered up, but if not, so what? 85% of people also carry HSV-1. It's nothing to be embarrassed about.

And definitely not nightmarish.