Question:
Hello all,

I have a 14 month old daughter and she just had a huge outbreak of cold sores in her mouth along with a high fever. I personally get cold sores, but I have always been EXTREMELY paranoid since I first got them. I have not kissed my daughter once because of my paranoia. I never EVER let her drink or eat after me. I probably seem a little nuts but oh well.

Anyway, 3 days after her mom had a cold sore and put our daughters binki in her mouth, our daughter gets them.

I have a few questions that I would really appreciate some experienced answers to. With some good facts to support it. I'm very concerned with her getting it in her eyes. She's always drooling and getting her hands slobbery. When she eats she likes to hold the food, basically with 2 fingers in her mouth heh. Right now I'm washing her hands w/ Dial after any time she gets a finger even close to her mouth. Am I going overboard? Is this just a little insane?

I'm just scared, I feel it would be so unfair to have a beautiful little girl grow up w/ that type of thing in her eyes. I'm sad enough as it is knowing she has cold sores now.

To sum a lot of my fears/questions up:
1. How long can the virus live outside your mouth once your saliva has dried?
2. How long can the virus live outside your mouth, say on a finger or hand that is still damp with saliva?
3. If she does rub her eye with a slobbery hand, is it pretty much guaranteed she is doomed? Or is it actually pretty rare for an eye to get infected?
4. I have heard rumors that if you already have the virus in your mouth. You build up antibodies and are less likely to get the virus in your eyes and genital area. Is this true?

Thanks for any advice/help in advance.

Answer:
You make some good points and since she is so young I think you need to go to her pediatrician and ask for their advice on how to treat this. They may be able to prescribe antivirals, as they would for chicken pox, that might stop this first ob in its tracks. Which would be great in my opinion.

Try to stay calm and not blame each other for this. Your little one is who is important here.

Yes this virus can effect the eyes. It can cause blindness. I don't have statistics on how easy this is. It is called Ocular Herpes and you can look for it online.

The virus can also spread to hands etc. This is Herpes Whitlow.

It is difficult to say how long the virus is active. It is the most contagious directly before, during and directly after an ob. Moisture provides a means for the virus to move around easily.

Yes the body will develop antibodies which reduces the frequency and severity of ob's but this can take months. Antibodies do not guarantee that it cannot infect other parts of the body. During the first year while antibody levels are developing is the time period when it is most likely to spread the virus to other areas. After that things usually get better. The sun definitely can trigger ob's as can things like peanut butter.

You can infect your spouse or she can infect you genitally from performing oral sex on each other but this does not guarantee you will have ob's. It is possible for it to be contagious asymptomatically.

I think you are doing the right thing by keeping her hands clean and dry. I'd keep her face freshly washed while this ob is going on. Warm soapy water can go a long way. Again ask the pediatrician for their advice here.

Answer:
Thank you for your time and advice.

We did take her to her pediatrician and she gave her an antivirul. Will this antivirul help stop the spread if she does in fact get saliva in her mouth? So that it potentially could not infect her eyes?

Thanks!

Answer:
unfortunately the antivirals cant eliminate the risk because the virus is tricky and the medicine basically tries to suppress the virus or interfere with it...she will still be contagious. Some antivirals claim to reduce the shedding of times when there is no coldsore/symptoms visible but it doesnt help every body. So hopefully the meds. will help lessen the shedding when she is asymptomatic...maybe because she is young and started the meds. early they might be more efficient at reducing spreading.

Answer:
I am by no means an expert on hsv but what I'd like to say is that this is a child and her system is not influenced by hormones the same way and adults body is. hsv really seems to like hormones especially female hormones and cortisol (a stress hormone).

Our immune system goes through many changes with some of the most basic immune functions peaking when we are about 7 years old. Our personal immune system is what keeps the virus in check and causes the virus to become dormant.

To take the positive outlook would be to hope that the dose of antivirals will stop the initial outbreak and response and hopefully protect her from further outbreaks while the immune system gets up to speed and can hold the virus back from within and hopefully eliminate some of the worry that she'll get it in her eyes.

Again I don't know the statistics but this virus has been around for centuries and children have been contracting it for just as long and from what I've seen most people who contract it during early childhood have a good chance of developing a strong immune response against it. Many don't know they even have it until later when in adulthood stress or hormones cause it to re-surface.

I think you need to be careful and take precautions but I don't think it is healthy to be freaking out just yet.

I would assume that the pediatrician wants her on an initial dose of antivirals and the rest may be as needed. For some the immune system has antibodies in healthy doses as early as 8 weeks after exposure. Did they give her an injection of the antiviral and do they plan any additional treatments?

The purpose of the antiviral is to stop the virus from replicating or reproducing and thereby increasing the area of infection. There are viral particles in the sores produced by the outbreak and undoubtedly in her saliva if the outbreak was around her mouth.

From the time infection started and on going her body began creating antibodies and this will help slow the rate of replication and how it affects her system. The combination of antibodies and antiviral medication may do the trick.