How many of us have suffered from one of those pesky little sores that crops up every now and again either on the lips (Herpes Type I) or genitals (Herpes Type II)? Well the answer is about 20 % of the population actually have herpes. And once you have contracted herpes you will always have it, most of the time it lies dormant in your system, and causes no harm or distress. In fact a lot of people actually have the virus and are not aware of it.
Once you have herpes it can rear its ugly head in the form of a sore around your face (usually the lips) or the genitals. The sore is often preceded by feeling a little under-the weather, and a tingling sensation over the area that the sore will appear (they usually pop up in the same place each time). Once the blister-like lesion appears it will probably last about 5 to 7 days and then go away by itself. It might then lay dormant for year’s even decades, or it might pop out more often, usually when you are under a lot of stress, or your body is for some reason in poor condition.
So there you have it, herpes, a pesky nuisance at its worst to most people. What most people don’t know is that babies exposed to herpes may develop a very severe form of the disease which can even be fatal. Such was the case in the United Kingdom:
“A British mother is devastated after her newborn daughter died from the herpes virus, possibly passed on with a kiss when she had a cold sore.
Charlotte Raveney, 32, and her husband Mohamed, 28, lost their baby Mira to the herpes simplex virus-1, the same virus that causes the common cold sore, at just 10 days old.
Mira’s birth last November coincided with Raveney getting her first-ever cold sore, she told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper.
Raveney had never had one and asked her midwife if it was dangerous, but was reassured it was nothing to worry about.
“The midwife said it had probably happened because I was run down after the birth and wasn’t getting much sleep,” she told the paper.
Four days after Raveney was discharged from the hospital, Mira became ill. They rushed her to hospital but doctors could not save her.
Five weeks later, they learned that Mira had the herpes virus and no antibodies to protect her.
“As it was my first-ever cold sore, her tiny body was unprotected,” Raveney said.” (February 28th 2009, Fox News)
What a tragedy. Even more so that staff at this hospital had also become complacent or ignorant about the risk of herpes in the new-born.
All good prenatal programs will ask parents at their first prenatal check whether either parent or close family members suffer form herpes. Most centers will also perform a blood test to see if the mother has been exposed to the virus (genital herpes is also an issue during the birth process). However from what I have seen here in Indonesia, the prenatal interviews and questionnaires are either non-existent or scant. Most parents that I interview are shocked and surprised at how serious the herpes virus is to newborns.
I hope by publishing this information that community awareness of the dangers that this virus poses to babies will be raised. If you know families with very young babies (under 6 weeks most at risk) please tell them to avoid their babies having contact with anyone that may have a suspect lesion around the lips, and make pregnant mothers aware of risk associated with herpes if they themselves suffer from herpes.
