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

[barrelofrain.livejournal.com]

Hi princessselene,

I'm writing as a VP maintainer to remind you that VP is a safe space. We can only imagine how difficult talking about the loss of your child can be, and we're glad you feel comfortable discussing it here. In the future, it's important to avoid making comments in VP that use the word "insane" to mean "ridiculous" or "extreme" because it can be hurtful to people in our community who have mental illness. We realize you can't edit comments, so we simply ask that you keep this note in mind for the future.

This is a friendly reminder to please review VP's policies to help us make VP a nicer place for everyone. You can follow these links for more information:

--What are VP's rules? (http://wiki.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=VaginaPagina_FAQ#What_are_the_rules.3F)
--What is "safe space"? What does "empowerment" mean? What does "accountability" look like? (http://wiki.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=VaginaPagina_FAQ#Safe_Space)
--What is VP's language policy? (http://wiki.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=VaginaPagina_FAQ#VP.27s_Language_Policy)
--Feminist With Disabilities: Ableist Word Profile (http://disabledfeminists.com/category/ableist-word-profile)

Please don't think we're scolding you or don't want you here. We issue safe space reminders to help our members acknowledge and include everyone, and to help keep VP a safe space for all. We hope you'll continue to participate in VP with this in mind. Safe space means a lot to many of our members, and it's amazing how much we can help just by being a little more careful with what we say.

If you'd like to talk more, your thoughts are welcome in contact_vp or via email (vpteam@vaginapagina.com). However, we just ask that you not discuss your reminder in this VP thread, since it would draw attention away from the original post.

Thanks for understanding.

--cat
for the VP Team (http://www.vaginapagina.com/contact.php)
contact_vp