"Don't kiss my son!": a mom explains why it's better not to have too close contact with a newborn
But how good is it to cuddle a newborn baby? The joy it causes to hold him in your arms, comforting him, saying nice words to him, and above all covering him with kisses. A practice common among all those close relatives and acquaintances of the couple who has just had a child that it now seems normal to everyone, yet overly close physical contact with a newborn, especially kisses, can have hidden dangers ...
via Bebes y Mas
Lucy Kendall thought about her unpleasant experience with her recently born baby and her Facebook profile told how overly close contact between adults and her baby caused him to develop neonatal herpes and be hospitalized for 21 days; and all this was probably because of too much kissing.
The herpes simplex virus (HSV) can be contagious and can cause ulcers and blisters around the mouth or other parts of the affected child's face. Transmission occurs with direct contact or through contact with the saliva of a person who already carries the virus but perhaps does not notice it because it is asymptomatic, for this reason it is very simple to transmit it even with just a kiss.
Lucy Kendall said it all started on the eleventh day of little Oliver's life; he no longer wanted to feed on his mother's milk and suddenly had a high fever; he was rushed to the hospital, intubated with oxygen and a feeding tube to continue to nourish him safely. Although the little boy was hospitalized for 21 days, when he returned home he had to continue heavy antiviral therapy and have frequent check-ups at the hospital.
From that moment on, little Oliver could no longer be kissed by anyone, not even by his closest relatives.
Herpes simplex is usually not serious in adults, but for younger children, especially newborns, it can be a highly dangerous virus, as the immune system of newborns is not fully developed, so any contact with a virus pathogen can compromise their fragile health and quickly affect vital organs. Who knows what might have happened if Mom Lucy hadn't taken her son to the hospital immediately!
In your judgment, was this mom right to stop anyone from kissing her little guy?
