Cold sores are common and a harmless in children and toddlers, but it can end up causing a lot of hassles for a baby. Pretty much on the lines of glucose in urine after glucose tolerance test but babies are known to suffer from cold sores by the moment they touch 5 years. The moment a baby who is less than 6 months old suffers from cold sores the impact could be severe. They could succumb to the cold sores the moment they come in contact with a person who is suffering from a cold sore. As an individual you should avoid, people with a cold sore kissing others or should not allow the babies to even touch the sore.
If caregivers are of the opinion that the babies can come in contact with a cold sore, they need to monitor the infant for an unusual behaviour and even discuss with a doctor about the next course of action.
Could baby end up suffering from cold sores?
On the rarer side a baby is known to have cold sores as their mothers might be having antibiotics in their blood which copes up with the levels of immunity. Because of the fact that the immune system of a baby who is less than 6 months is not that developed. If they get cold sore the virus is known to have a host of serious implications.
On the other hand if a pregnant woman has genital herpes, the baby could end up suffering from neonatal herpes as they can establish contact with the fluids during the course of delivery. This is the case in almost 90 % of births as the baby comes in contact with the virus just after birth. Getting a cold sore when pregnant can help you in a couple of ways
- Vertical transmission- this is bound to occur when the mother is suffering from genital herpes and from the birth canal the infant goes on to catch the virus. This could be even the case if the mother does not end up suffering from any form of symptoms, as it is possible for the baby to catch this disease via the placenta
- Horizontal transmission- this could happen just after contact. People could end up being contagious and that too without any major symptoms. A kiss or a touch could force the virus to pass on to the baby. Via the breast milk a mother can pass on the infection to the baby.
Complications along with risks
In case of older kids the herpes infection might not prove to be that harmful, but a new born could suffer from complications. The moment a baby gets a cold sore it can be severe and can pave way to a host of symptoms. This could spread beyond the mouth and then on to the limbs. Symptoms in the form of poor bleeding and even skin blisters work out to be common.
In the first few weeks of their life, cold sores tend to be severe in new born babies.
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