“It is very hard on me knowing that it all started from a kiss from me”, Young mother says other parents should be more careful after a simple kiss on the cheek sent her 4-year-old daughter to a hospital with an infection

The young mother initially noticed that her 4-year-old daughter had a spot on her cheek. The mom didn’t think it was anything to worry about. Unfortunately, the ‘little spot’ grew in size and sent the child to a hospital for four days. Now, the mother is warning other parents after a simple kiss left her daughter sick. When the spot grew in size, the mother took her daughter to a hospital where doctors diagnosed her with HSV-1 and it was reportedly caused by a simple kiss on the cheek. “It is very hard on me knowing that it all started from a kiss from me. I had no idea that HSV could be transferred so easily. Actually, I was not even aware of the severity of HSV. I just thought it was a common cold sore.” the young mom said.

The young mom from Illinois, Jaime Lippold, told Yahoo News that she noticed her 4-year-old daughter, Aubree, had a spot on her cheek. The mom didn’t think it was anything to worry about until the spot began growing in size daily and appearing sore and infected. Jaime then took the child to a hospital where doctors told her that she was diagnosed with HSV-1 and it was reportedly caused by a simple kiss on the cheek from her. 

According to Jaime, doctors initially told her that her daughter had impetigo, which is an infection that produces red, itchy sores. The next day, the sore had doubled in size and the 4-year-old girl had a fever. The child was then rushed to the Children’s Hospital and was given aggressive antibiotics while they waited for test results, The Mirror reports.

“Because I had a cold sore that wasn’t fully healed, and was playing around kissing on my daughter, I passed the virus to her through a tiny pimple on her face,” the mother wrote on her social media account.

Jaime reportedly told Yahoo News:

“It is very hard on me knowing that it all started from a kiss from me. I had no idea that HSV could be transferred so easily. Actually, I was not even aware of the severity of HSV. I just thought it was a ‘common cold sore’.”

The HSV-1 virus is normally harmless and many adults live with it without knowing they are infected, health officials said. Unfortunately, for babies it can be extremely dangerous. The 4-year-old girl spent four days in hospital receiving treatment and once at home, underwent 10 days of antibiotics. Her mom said that she is still left with a red mark on her cheek that will take some time to heal. 

The young mother from Illinois shared her story on her social media account:

“Now that the worst is behind us, I’m sharing this to raise awareness. FYI, I am also adding pictures of the wound. Monday, April 25th Aubree had a pimple come up on her face, the pimple scabbed up and came off. Throughout the next few days, the wound became bigger and started to show infection. She began getting fevers, and acted sick. She stopped eating and wouldn’t really get up off of the couch. We took her to an urgent care on the 27th and the 29th. Both times she was diagnosed with impetigo, and sent home with a topical ointment to apply to the area.

Saturday morning she woke up and the spot had doubled in size, her fevers came back, and she felt sick again. This time we took her to Children’s Hospital where she was immediately admitted for an infection. She was started on aggressive antibiotics and antibodies to fight it. She spent 4 days in the pediatric unit there, while we waited for some answers.

Her cultures came back that she contracted HSV-herpes simplex virus (also referred to as cold sores). The HSV came through the tiny spot in her face where the pimple was. This spread quick, and needed 4 full days of antibiotics to start seeing an improvement. Because I had a cold sore that wasn’t fully healed, and was playing around kissing on my daughter, I passed the virus to her through a tiny pimple on her face.

This is something that you hear about, but never think would actually happen to you. HSV can actually be deadly in babies/toddlers. I am so glad that we took her to Children’s instead of waiting longer to see if the topical ointment worked. She is still on a 10 day cycle of antibiotics, but is able to take them at home now because the infection is going away. We are so thankful to be home, and she is so happy to be out of the hospital.

PSA – don’t kiss on babies when you have a cold sore. Don’t kiss on them when you feel like you have one coming. Don’t kiss on them even if your sore is “healed”. If the sore is visible at all, it can be passed to someone else.”