Hi all, have seen this on facebook and thought I'd post it on here as a warning.

Our baby daughter Mira died on 28th November 2007 from herpes simplex virus 1 - the common cold sore virus. She was just 10 days old.

It is so so rare here in the UK - only 6 babies a year die from this and it is so easily preventable.

I had never had a cold sore before Mira was born, but shortly after her birth I was so exhausted and run down with a throat infection that I developed a tiny cold sore on my bottom lip when she was 3 days old. It disappeared almost overnight and I didn't think anything more of it.

Mira was a beautiful, perfect, healthy baby - but when she was 8 days old she became a bit restless and difficult to feed. We took her to the GP twice, and she was also seen by a midwife and an on-call doctor in the two days before she died. Her symptoms were so non-descript that nobody knew what was making her so poorly. She had a low temperature, her eye was a bit sticky, and she wasn't interested in feeding. She was just so peaceful and sleepy all the time. She had no marks, blemishes or lesions on her, definitely nothing that would have made anyone think that she was being attacked by the cold sore virus - it was just quietly working its way through her little body with no outwardly noticeable signs.

She took a turn for the worse in the evening of 27th November, and we rushed her to hospital, where she stopped breathing. The doctors tried to save her, but by then the virus had overwhelmed her tiny body and they had no idea what had made her so ill. She grew her angel wings at 4.20am on November 28th, 2007 - just 10 short days after she'd made such a long-awaited entrance into the world.

The post mortem results came back as herpes simplex virus 1 - the cold sore virus. Up to 85 per cent of adults have this virus, and it's harmless in adults.

As it was my first ever cold sore, I had no antibodies to pass on to Mira, so her tiny body was unprotected. It was just incredibly bad luck that my first ever infection coincided with the birth, and I unknowingly transmitted the virus to Mira in the first few days of her life.

I read so much when I was pregnant, but had never seen anything at all about the dangers of this type of simple condition. This is why we want to raise awareness and increase public knowledge.

It's too late for Mira, but I just want nobody else to go through the devastation that we went through at losing our beautiful 10 day old daughter, and the pain that we'll carry around in our shattered hearts forever.

Please, just help us by passing this information on to anyone you know who it may help - pregnant women, family members of newborn babies, health professionals (we were surprised at how little was known about this even by some of the top medical experts we have been in contact with since losing Mira).

The facebook group is at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20099106759 if you want to help pass on the message.

Thanks for reading.

That is so tragic. Im so very sorry for what happened- I just cant find the words and Im sorry for that too.

I just read the post to my OH who is pregnant and with your permission, Ill copy and paste it, then send it to her friends who are also pregnant.

No offence chickywiggle but my first thoughts were 'no way!'.
But I had a quick look and it would appear that neonatal herpes simplex deaths are possible and most likely undetected as a risk as it can be transferred in the birth canal.
More details can be found via your favourite search engine.

Jabs - I think it was someone elses child.

hey please pass on the message.....it's not my story (thank god), but feel so sorry for the people involved.

I thought it was your baby too at first! When you quote it's easy to make a quote box ... just type [ quote ] add quote [/quote ] close up the brackets obviously! :)

I've always suffered from cold sores from being a child, and my mother always claimed it was from people kissing me when I was a baby. So when I had kids, I made sure no one was ever allowed to kiss them, anywhere if they had the slightest hint of a cold or sore! It seems to have worked because my offspring have never had cold sores, ever!

I've never heard of such a tragic outcome of the virus before though. How tragic :(

It is very sad about the little girl, and quite scarey as I would have been in the dangerous category as I have never had a cold sore, so if I had contracted one when my children were tiny they would not have had the antibodies and could have been in the same position. Thankfully this did not happen to me.

I went to the facebook page and read this update which is quite uplifting.

********************************

June 1st, 2007 - I'm so proud that there are nearly 1,000 members now. it's wonderful that the message is getting out there... And I found out last night that Mira's story has already saved another baby's life!

Back in January, I posted Mira's story on another internet forum I visit. Last night, I was online and noticed the following message had been posted for my attention:

"This is something I wish I would have posted a long time ago, but I did not know if it would cause more sadness or hurt feelings. A recent thread has told me that maybe it's time to share a very personal story. You see, I may live on the other side of the world from Charlotte, but I feel as though we are forever connected and I am eternally grateful to her for her strength in sharing her experience.

As some of you know, I had a baby girl in January. Immediately after my c-section, I started to have a reaction to my epidural. I had extreme itching all over my face, starting in my eyes and then gradually working all over my face. The itching was unbearable and I had a cold washcloth in my hand for the next 48 hours, just scrubbing my itchy face. Well, on day three, all this rubbing and itching caused me to break out in a very large cold sore around my upper lip and below my nose.

Of course a new mom just sits and holds her newborn all day and night, and kisses all over her face. I'm sitting there in the middle of the night and I remember Charlotte's courageous post of how she lost her little angel to a cold sore virus. I panicked, and knew that above all else, I had to keep my face away from the baby. As soon as the pediatrician came in the next morning I asked him about cold sores and newborn babies. He was shocked I knew about this and said that he didnt even put the two together. He confirmed the severity of it, and told me not to kiss the baby, etc... He said that there were treatments for the condition, but unless someone would have known what was the cause (the cold sore) they would not have treated the symptoms for that infection. Also, the baby would not have seen the pediatrician for another week and who knows what would have happened by then.

I just cant help but think that I have my beautiful daughter because of the strength and courage of you, a complete stranger. When you mentioned in another thread that it helps the grief process when others talk to you and just dont pretend that they know your pain, I knew that I had to tell you my experience.

So, from the bottom of my heart, my husband and I are eternally grateful to you. I hope that someday your sadness will soften and your pain not be so strong.

And an amazing coincidence, my daughter's name is KARIMA, which contains the name MIRA. I believe that there is a tiny part of Mira carried in the heart of my Karima."

So, this goes to show that we can make a difference by passing this message on to everyone we know.

Thanks so much, to every one of you!

The herpes simplex virus is most likely what caused my sons encephalitis, some people know the story on here.
Such a stupid pathetic little virus, with such devastating results. :(

What a tragic thing to happen,my boys all have excema and the cold sore virus can be really serious to them, I have to be really careful if anyone we know has one we steer clear as the boys can end up in hospital if they catch it,thats bad enough but to not know this can happen to a newborn is terrible those poor parents.

I guess like the majority of people I never knew the effects could be so devestating until I read this post. I have the cold sore virus, but fortunately rarely have cold sores - but I know that the virus remains in the body and can lay dormant for a long time, so it's always there.

I bf babybonny for a few months so i'm hoping he will have got some protection from that.

I've always been careful when i've had a cold sore but now i'll be extra extra careful.

I was always brought up to treat cold sores like leprocy! When there's one in the house, much hand washing goes on, and even pillows and sheets are changed more frequently and certainly not shared

I, my mother and Mr Strix both get them, but of different types - mine and my mother's are the thick burning lip type, which sometimes cracks, and Mr Strix's are the yellow blistery type to the face

I'm agast at the concept that some people think it's okay to go sticking a scabby face near anybody - let alone a baby!

I'm agast at the concept that some people think it's okay to go sticking a scabby face near anybody - let alone a baby!

Unfortunately, some people just do not think. My MIL is one of them. My Husband is now in the habit of asking her outright if she has one. I can't do this myself and try to be alert to if she has one and then bring it up. She wears lipstick and you really cannot tell she has one. She let it slip that she had one, I was so annoyed, she had been kissing my daughter all day before she said it.

It's a really sad story, and I had read that it can cause a lot of blisters all over the body and is very painful to young childen has come into contact with it.

mini sav got a coldsore from my gran and passed them onto me!

She was just over 2 at the time and to be fair my gran was being so careful and then just forgot, i was very angry at the time but since have forgiven her.

It is serious because this little virus caused mini sav to have convulsions, she also had sores ALL over her face plus tonnes of ulcers in her mouth. Her gums became so swollen that her teeth were hardly showing. she was really poorly for about 2 weeks. Googling showed that the virus is quite severe in children for the 1st occurance and after this its just the normal cold sore..

She has only had 1 since was not ill at all just looked minging!


so yes be careful as its not nice.

Unfortunately, some people just do not think. My MIL is one of them. .... She let it slip that she had one, I was so annoyed, she had been kissing my daughter all day before she said it. :shocked: :rant:
What exactly does she think she's doing?!?

I suppose she'd be demanding kisses if she had flu too :loopy:

I was always brought up to treat cold sores like leprocy! When there's one in the house, much hand washing goes on, and even pillows and sheets are changed more frequently and certainly not shared


I too have always been ultra careful when i've had one and tend to use facecloths rather than towels on my face then I put them to the wash after each use (a bit easier than changing a hand towel everytime). Lots of handwashing, anti-bacterial handwash etc too.

Blimey - I had absolutely no idea there was any danger at all in the cold sore virus. Thanks for these posts, my Dad gets them and I have had a couple but not for years but at least I know now to be careful.

Reminds me slightly of Group B Strep which I also had never heard of until I gave birth early and discovered I had.

Must be feeling a bit pessimistic - make me wonder what else is out there that we don't know about!!

Just to add further to the advice above - it is actually possible to transfer the virus when no cold sore is present (a process called asymptomatic shedding, apparently), and nearly 70% of people in the UK have some form of the virus, most of them asymptomatically.

So while being careful when you have a cold sore is obviously important, don't get too hung up on it. If your child does get it, it could have come from anyone who's had to skin-to-skin contact with them (so go easy on the guilt! I got my first cold sore at about the age of 20 and my dad was convinced it was his fault, despite always being very careful and me pointing out that I may have kissed some other people by that point ;) )

Compeed make a teeny clear plaster specifically for covering cold sores and preventing their transmission. .


compeed do not prevent transmission they help prevent it which is a huge difference!

so even though they are good i wouldnt recommend them to people in this way as they may still pass on the virus.