How to prevent infecting a 3 month old baby

[boly]

Hi, i just delivered my baby about 3 plus months ago. Last Thursday, i felt pain at my genital area. Then on Friday, I felt a sore on my tongue. When I went to see the GP on Saturday, she told me it was herpes as there were 4 blisters at my genital area and she suspected my tongue problem was also due to that. (Frankly i do not know where i could have been infected. As i am monogamous and had never had an infection or outbreak prior to giving birth or even pregnancy (although i had chickenpox before).)

So, my burning question now is: what are the chances of passing it to my baby? I once even sucked his pacifier (to clean it) before i put it into his mouth on Thursday or Friday.

[gracefromHHP]

Putting a baby's pacifer in your mouth to "clean" it is just bad practice.  It just increases your risk of transmitting any germs you have to the baby.  Just something to keep in mind for the future.  

At this point - just avoid kissing your baby whenever you have active oral symptoms. that will go very far in protecting him from oral herpes.  

What kind of work up has your doctor done on you? has itjust been visual exams?

also your partner is going to need to get type specific herpes igg blood testing too.

grace

[boly]

Hi, gracefromHHP... as i am actually not from the US (i am in a south east asian country), i am not sure if they have the kind of type specific blood tests here in my country or not.

Yes, my doctor has done only a visual exam on me. She prescribed me Zovirax. What i am worried now is that will i need to take the medication on a long term basis should her diagnosis turn out wrong?

Also, does viral shedding occur all over the body or just the site of the lesions / infections?

[gracefromHHP]

I encourage you to read the herpes handbook at www.westoverheights.com. It will answer a lot of the questions you and your partner have about herpes.  You can still get testing done even though you aren't in the US - so can your partner.  Ask your doctor for details about what your options are for the two of you.  It's unfortunate that they didn't at least culture your genital lesions :(  

grace

[boly]

Dear grace,

I have read the handbook at www.westoverheights.com. But I don't recall it stating if
1) viral shedding occurs all over the body or just the site of the lesions / infections; and
2) if I would need to take Zovirax as a long term medication should my doctor's diagnosis turned out to be wrong?

Also, I have one more question: even if my herpes is dormant (that is, no outbreaks), can I still pass it to my partner, if he is uninfected? (I suspect this question was answered by the handbook. But as it was such a long piece of article, I cannot recall if I have indeed seen the answer in it.)

Please, anybody, if you can help me, I would greatly appreciate it. :(

[gracefromHHP]

You don't shed herpes from all over the body.  

No need to take zovirax if you don't have herpes.  You really don't even need to take it even if you do have herpes.  It's totally your choice and depends on your partner's status, if you have hsv1 or hsv2 and how often you are getting recurrences.

Yes you can still potentially transmit the virus to your partner in between obvious ob's. Indeed that is covered in the book!

grace

[bolyboly]

Thanks a lot, Grace 4 answering my question. (I am still boly... but because I'd forgotten my password, hence this new username...)

But now I have a new problem, which is that I just discovered that I have been pregnant for about 13 weeks now.....! This means that I was 7 weeks pregnant when I took the Zovirax medication. My worry is how will the medication affect my new baby?

Thanks a lot for all replies!

[gracefromHHP]

The acyclovir and pregnancy registry did not find any issues when women who were pregnant took acyclovir during the first trimester. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Congrats  on your new pregnancy ( and rather you than me that's for sure!!! )!!

grace