I am posting this for a colleague not on Lactnet:

Here's the situation:  A toddler (around 18 mo.) has been diagnosed with
having a herpes sore inside his mouth, on his gum.  Currently that
diagnosis may be questionable, as the doctor has most recently said that
it's a 50% chance that it's herpes, whereas initially, he was quite
certain it was.  Well, the mom has not stopped nursing and doesn't plan
to, but she would still like any info available on this.  I read her
everything it said in the revised BAB; however, most of the info
addressed a mother who has herpes and the precautions to take to minimize
transmitting it to the baby.  Her situation is the other way around.  I
guess this mom just wants to be as
informed as possible, and although she knows she's been exposed by
nursing her
son, she wants to know if there are any statistics on how likely it is
that
she will actually contract the herpes virus herself now.

Any information you can share will be appreciated.   Thanks!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My own sources were also heavily into maternal herpes.  Riordan and
Auerback (pp 171-72) did report where a toddler (with herpes sore on
inner aspect of lower lip) passed herpes to his mother's nipple; bf
ceased for 1 week; mom on aclyclovir (200 mg q 5) for 5 days, bf resumes.
 Susan M. Maher suggests doctor dx herpes and educate mom on
risks/benefits of continued bf.  I was unhappy to learn that the doctor
did not offer the mother any information which might protect her.  Would
a nipple shield be helpful here, or would the mother already be too
exposed by the time the lesion appeared for it to be useful?

Of course the Riordan/Auerbach situation involved direct skin contact
where this mom's case does not.

What experience have y'all had with this?

Karen Zeretzke, MEd, IBCLC
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
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