Aa
HSV1 and 10 week old
My question doesn't apply directly to a STD but given the topic I am hopeful that you can provide some insight and guidance. I have had a very hard week and I am prone to getting cold sores while I'm under stress. This morning when I came home at 8 am from my night shift I cuddled my 10 week old for two hours. During that time I gave him many kisses on the face and mouth. Usually when I get cold sores I get some type of warning -- the pain, tenderness, tingling... I did NOT have any warnings. When I got up I felt a slight pain on the top left of my lip and noticed that it felt a little bumpy. I lost it, I am aware of how dangerous and contagious cold sores are to babies especially before the 3 month mark. The cold sore did not have a blister it just felt bumpy and tender. I frantically scrubbed his face with water and soap. It is now 1824 at night and I have full blown outbreak on three different parts of my lips. My question is this : How contagious ARE you in those very early moments of a cold sore? There was no break in my skin and no break in his skin. There were no secretions. I will be COMPLETELY devastated if I passed hsv1 to my baby for him to suffer a lifetime of painful recurring cold sores or even worse if he got it in his eyes or if it went to his organs. All because I gave him some kisses. It seems like a lot of people do not realize how contagious cold sores really are. It seems like there should be more babies that catch hsv1 but you never hear about it. I have been breastfeeding (and formula)for the past 10 weeks so is there a chance that he could have acquired the antibodies against hsv1 from me and have some immunity? How common is it for babies less than 3 months of age to get hsv1 and do they usually fair okay with it? I will be completely devastated if he ends up with a cold sore. Also how long would he go without getting a cold sore before it would be safe to say he didn't get it from me?
thank you for your time
amanda
thank you for your time
amanda
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Sorry, HSV can be transmitted from normal appearing skin, a "bump" before it becomes a blister or from an open HSV sore. So the possiblity of being contagious is essentially always present. Fortunately, the vast majority of exposures do not lead to transmission (in the same way that most of the time that you meet someone with the flu you do not get it),. EWH
Thank you for your prompt response. I am a nervous wreck and I have a feeling that I'm going to be anxious for the next couple weeks. It's hard to believe that we can even be spreading the virus when we're asymptomatic. Hopefully this will just be a wake up call for me to be more careful in the future.
I understand that you can spread the virus when you're asymptomatic but when the blister has not fully formed and there are no breaks in the skin with no secretions does that lower your risk of being contagious??
I tried to post the question in the neonatology section and it doesn't seem that a doctor has been following the forum.
I understand that you can spread the virus when you're asymptomatic but when the blister has not fully formed and there are no breaks in the skin with no secretions does that lower your risk of being contagious??
I tried to post the question in the neonatology section and it doesn't seem that a doctor has been following the forum.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome back to our Forum. I will make a few comments which I hope will be helpful but in all honesty, the questions you are asking might be better answered on the Pediatrics or Neonatology Expert Forums. My comments are as follows:
Persons who get cold sores shed the virus from their lips (if that is their site of infection) both when cold sores are present and when they are not (this latter state is called asymptomatic shedding). Despite the fact that persons are shedding much of the time however, most kisses and lip contact do not lead to transmission of HSV-1. I say this not to worry or concern you but to simply point out that there is not much you can do to minimize risk other than to avoid contact when you have obvious lesions and that most contacts during shedding of any sort (symptomatic or not, do not lead to transmission). Nonetheless, transmission of your infection could conceivable occur. Should it occur, that chance that this will make your child miserable is tiny. Remember, over 60% of adults have HSV-1 and most of them have become infected during childhood but few of them has much trouble from their infections. In fact most (about 80-90%) don't even know they are infected.
Regarding antibodies, yes, you are transferring your antibodies to your child through breast feeding. this would, in theory, offer some partial protection.
How long till you will know if the child is infected? Do not know about neonates. In adults initial infection appear at 4-14 days after exposure. I doubt that it would be any longer for a child but as I said, this is a situation which I am not expert in.
As parents our children and their well being is a top priority. At the same time, sometimes we can worry too much. Please do not be overly worried about this or beat yourself up over having been affectionate towards your baby. Further questions should go to another site, perhaps Pediatrics as I said. EWH
Persons who get cold sores shed the virus from their lips (if that is their site of infection) both when cold sores are present and when they are not (this latter state is called asymptomatic shedding). Despite the fact that persons are shedding much of the time however, most kisses and lip contact do not lead to transmission of HSV-1. I say this not to worry or concern you but to simply point out that there is not much you can do to minimize risk other than to avoid contact when you have obvious lesions and that most contacts during shedding of any sort (symptomatic or not, do not lead to transmission). Nonetheless, transmission of your infection could conceivable occur. Should it occur, that chance that this will make your child miserable is tiny. Remember, over 60% of adults have HSV-1 and most of them have become infected during childhood but few of them has much trouble from their infections. In fact most (about 80-90%) don't even know they are infected.
Regarding antibodies, yes, you are transferring your antibodies to your child through breast feeding. this would, in theory, offer some partial protection.
How long till you will know if the child is infected? Do not know about neonates. In adults initial infection appear at 4-14 days after exposure. I doubt that it would be any longer for a child but as I said, this is a situation which I am not expert in.
As parents our children and their well being is a top priority. At the same time, sometimes we can worry too much. Please do not be overly worried about this or beat yourself up over having been affectionate towards your baby. Further questions should go to another site, perhaps Pediatrics as I said. EWH
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
