Newborn contracted fatal herpes virus from kiss, mom warns

The parents of a newborn baby who died just eight days after her May 2018 birth are warning others about the potential dangers of allowing family and friends to touch and kiss infants. Abigail Rose Friend, who said her daughter Aliza Rose was born healthy but later contracted herpes virus likely through the kiss of an infected person, has taken to Facebook to share her family’s tragedy.

“I’m never going to stop sharing the gut wrenching, heartbreaking, soul shattering story of our sweet Aliza Rose,” Friend, of Maryland, posted on Facebook. “She was 8 days old when she passed away. She was born a happy healthy almost 9lb[sic] baby. She was healthy for a day and half [SIC] before the HSV-1 virus attached to her spine and ate her lungs and brain.”

The article goes on to state the following:

HSV-1 typically causes cold sores or small blisters on the mouth, eye or lips, which can lead to severe infections or even death in newborns due to their undeveloped immune systems. According to the New York State Department of Health, about 70 percent of U.S. adults are infected with HSV-1 and can shed virus in their saliva at any time, even if they don’t show symptoms. The virus can be transferred to newborns from close contact with someone who is shedding HSV-1 or has an active outbreak.