Children’s Oral Herpes

Children’s Oral Herpes Infection
Children can also contract herpes at day care centers or areas where there are many children and care takers having direct contact and toys that children can put in their mouths.

Oral herpes infections should not be confused with canker sores (aphthous ulcers). Canker sores are not caused by the herpes virus.

One of the first herpes infections a child will experience is usually primary herpetic gingivostomatitis. Infants and toddlers with herpetic gingivostomatitis, can develop a fever with painful blisters around their mouths and lips, on their tongues, and on the roof of the mouths, which usually is not diagnosed and goes untreated. Infants can contract herpes from a loved one with a single kiss, if the loved one has a cold sore (5-8%) or is shedding the virus without an obvious lesion. An undeveloped immune system is susceptible to the herpes virus.

Beyond the neonatal period, most primary HSV-1 infections occur in infancy and childhood and are transmitted primarily by contact with infected saliva. Over 25% of children in the US have serologic evidence of herpes simplex virus disease by 5 years old.

When newborns contract herpes, they can get very sick because their ability to fight off virus is not developed yet. This can result in throat and eye infections, damage to their central nervous system, mental retardation, or even death. Do not let anyone with a cold sore kiss your baby! The herpes sores are very contagious. As children get older, their immune system is better equipped to fight the herpes virus.