A baby with chicken pox and herpes simplex at the same time!!  How about chickenpox in the
mouth as an explanation? Chicken pox get everywhere, including mucous membranes, so can
certainly be seen in mouths looking rather like herpes simplex (rather than the zoster it
really is).

Either way, chicken pox or herpes simplex, I feel mother should go on feeding. She will not
catch chicken pox by feeding baby (general contact is enough to get them), and if the mouth
sores are herpes, she has already been exposed by now, so no point stopping. Many adults have
antibodies to herpes to some extent, so she may not even get herpes on her breast. If she
does, then they will heal up with no problems for her baby, but will be sore to feed for
a while - I treated one mother who this happened to. If the herpes recur on her breast
(rather like cold sores do on lips - ouch!) then there are treatments that can be used to
help this.

As with anything related to herpes, general hygiene and avoiding contact with eyes etc will
help prevent spread to other body parts.

Let us know what happens.

Fiona Coombes
Doctor, LC
Perth Western Australia