Question about child with herpes

[kellij]

There is a little girl whose mom sometimes brings her to the gym daycare while my children are there. The first time she brought her I guess she had sore on her face, so the girls watching the kids told her that she couldn't stay until they received a note from a dr. saying it is not contagious. I guess she got the note because she was back tonight. She seems to have a lot of problems, behaviourly, and she has seizures as well. They tell me she has herpes on her brain, or something like that, maybe the herpes affected her brain, I don't know. Anyway, I just want to be reassured that it is okay for my children to be around her. My kids are 11 months and 2-years-old and I think she's probably around 2-3. (So you know how kids that age touch each other and each other's things).

Signed,

Nervous Nelly :)

[o_mom]

Herpes Simplex I is the virus that causes cold sores. Around 90% of adults have had it, so it is very common. Some people have it and never have symptoms, others will have cold sores that reoccur at random times, possibly triggered by stress. DH gets them regularly and takes antivirals when he has an outbreak. I have never had one and the boys have never had one and he doesn't do anything special other than trying not to kiss them on the mouth when he has a sore. The little girl may be on treatment which would limit the contagiousness.

In very, very rare cases (2 per million) it can cause encephalitis, which may be what this little girl had. Unless she had an active outbreak and was not being treated she would not be contagious.

HTH!

[roysmom]

I would be extremely cautious. I have a niece that has some form of herpers. When she was less than 1, she had a horrible outbreak of sores on her face. It covered one entire side of her face. She was hospitalized for a week, trying to find out what was wrong. The doctors diagnosed her with herpes, I personally think she got them during delivery, but that is just an assumption. Anyway, now anytime she has a sore, someone in our family gets one. Hers seem to be extremely contagious. I have never heard of having them on the brain, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. I would just err on the side of caution.

[Alice523]

I would call the pediatrician and ask how contagious it is and/or how likely it is that your kids would contract it. Your child is at risk if the sore makes contact with their skin, but not if the child touches her sore and then touches a toy, etc. (This is how it was explained to me by my son's ped.)