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 [log in to unmask]