Cold Sores
Jul. 10th, 2012 09:20 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
mrsbenglish.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
vaginapaginaHi 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?
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?
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no subject
Date: 2012-07-11 02:20 am (UTC)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)