Hi everyone -- I answer breastfeeding questions at an online site and have
been "talking" with a mom who has herpes simplex on both nipples. She has
given me permission to share her situation and ask for further advice!

She is tandem nursing her 14-month-old and 4-year-old. Her 14-month-old
has a herpes lesion near her nose. The mom's doctore prescribed oral
acyclovir for her, and a pediatric dermatologist prescribed acyclovir
ointment for the toddler and also told the mom to use zinc oxide on her
nipples. Both doctors told her not to nurse, the dermatologist telling her
that the herpes could spread to her daughter's brain and that she could go
blind.

I've never dealt with this before, so I've given the mom the information
and recommendations that I've found in the literature and on a search of
the archives here. But I still don't feel like I have a handle on it. Here
are my questions:

* Just how much at risk is the toddler if she continues to nurse? My
understanding was that herpes is dangerous for a *newborn,* not a
breastfed, never-had-a-bottle, already exposed 14-month-old. This mom says
she had the sores a week before she contacted me and went to the doctor
(how long do the sores last, BTW?) and had been nursing the whole time.

* At what point will the sores stop being contagious? I thought it was
when they were completely scabbed over, but the mom says she read that the
virus can continue to shed even then.

* The zinc oxide recommendation sounded bizarre to me, but I searched the
archives and did find that others have come across this. But is the
purpose just to help dry the sores up, and would that even be effective?

* In addition to being sore from the herpes lesions, the mom's nipples
were already very irritated from a rash that she's linked to toddler
toothpaste. Could hydrogel dressings be used over herpes lesions?

TIA!

Jennifer Herrin, RN, IBCLC
Heidelberg, Germany

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html