Herpes spreading to kids?

[ggirl32]

Hello,

I recently found out that my sister contracted Herpes from her now-husband. I believe she contracted this from him during sex. My sister has three small children. I'm worried about the kids getting this disease. How can they stay safe? I was told that her husband cleans the youngest child's pacifier by putting it in his mouth and then into the child's mouth. Can the baby get infected this way? I'm really worried.

Thanks for any information you can provide.

[waringblender]

Do you even know which type of herpes it is?  

[gracefromHHP]

Genital herpes is considered a sexually transmitted infection because surprise surprise - sex is the best way to transmit it.  It is not an issue in households between a parent and a child. It's not transmitted thru routine day to day contact. It's not transmitted thru toilets. It's not transmitted thru showers, tubs or soap.  You have absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to your neices/nephews. Pretty much unless you are having sex with someone - it's not an issue.   I encourage you to support your sister by forwarding the link to the herpes handbook at www.westoverheights.com.  also read it yourself to learn more so that you can be a source of information and support to her. You might also be incredibly surprised by what you read in the handbook!!!  

As far as adults "cleaning" a pacifier off in their mouth - well that is absolutely the best way possible to make your kids sick!!! Our mouths are not clean places.  Better practice would be to always wash a pacifier off before putting it back in babies mouth. If water isn't available then use a butt wipe or always carry a water bottle around to rinse toys/pacifiers off with when away from home.  Another option is always have multiple pacifiers in the diaper bag for situations where you can't easily clean them off. When it comes to herpes risk with pacifiers -  1 out of every 2-3 adults has hsv1 orally whether they can recall ever having an obvious cold sore before or not.  "cleaning" a pacifier off in your mouth is a good way to expose your young children to hsv1 before their immune systems are fully equiped to handle infection.  

grace

[ggirl32]

Thanks for the responses. Waringblender, I'm not sure which one it is. I would guess hsv 2 but I'm not sure.

Thanks for the link Grace... I really appreciate it! I understand that Herpes is an STD, however, my understanding is that one of the types of Herpes can be contracted through saliva. This is why I posted my question and am very concerned about the way the pacifier is being cleaned.

I'll forward this information to my sister but I don't think it will do much good. She's pretty reckless in her social life. She was warned by her husband's ex-girlfriend that this guy was spreading Herpes but she didn't listen and then ended up contracting the virus. I'm just really worried about the kids.

Thanks again!

[gracefromHHP]

Oral herpes is an issue with saliva.  Most adults have it already which is why I mentioned it.  As I pointed out - 'cleaning' a pacifier in your mouth isn't cleaning it - it's adding harmful germs potentially - and not just herpes!

grace