I've been waiting and waiting for some of the medicos on the list to respond
to the post about the baby having a herpes sore in his mouth and could he
give it to the mother.  Haven't seen anything, so I'm adding my .02 worth.
Cold sores/fever blisters are caused by the Herpes simplex I virus.  Almost
everyone in the world carries this virus by the time they are an adult.
Children pick it up at school, playing, mouthing toys, etc.  The mother of
this baby undoubtedly has had this virus for years.  It stays quiescent in
your body until something -- stress often, causes it to flare up.  Some
people are more prone to sores than others, a lot of people notice that they
always get a fever blister in the same spot on their lip.  There is no
treatment other than OTC medications to relieve the pain, like
Campo-Phenique or other camphor containing salves.  They are self-limiting
and go away in a few days.  In immuno-compromised people (like my son Peter)
they can be more serious, as an outbreak of multiple sores in the mouth can
interfere with feeding and even drinking.

All of the responses I've seen so far seem to imply that this baby has
Herpes Simples II, or "genital herpes" -- the kind which is more serious and
causes problems for pregnant moms, especially if they have open sores at the
time of delivery.

If the original poster could clear this up, I would appreciate it.  If the
baby has a cold sore/fever blister, so what?  Why is everyone assuming it is
Herpes Simplex II ("genital" herpes)?



Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.
Texas A&M University