Baby Gets Herpes After Kissing Relative – Independent Journal Review

Credit: GoFundMe

Sienna Duffield was incorrectly diagnosed with eczema when she was eight months old.

Then, according to GoFundMe, on Duffield's second birthdayshe washospitalized for a rash that broke out all over her face.

Her mother Savina French-Bell wrote thatthe rash wasvery painful for her daughter:

It's infected, weepy, blistered, clustered, scabby, and very, very painful for her. She suffers with temperatures on and off, and struggles to sleep most nights. I'm normally greeted by a toddler covered in blood and puss most mornings!

For eight months, doctors struggled with her treatment. They tried steroids, antihistamines, but nothing worked. French-Bell wrote:

Nothing is working. We see improvements for the first few days, and then BANG it comes back. She has antihistamine, hundreds of creams, steroids, antibiotics body bandages and mittens, but nothing is helping my little girl. She's also had blood tests to rule out any allergies.

Then, she told Inside Edition, French-Bell rememberedwhen her daughter first started breaking out into rashes:

I realized that she kissed a family member last year which brought on the infection. Everyone in the family was distraught.

Doctors were able to correctly treat the toddler once they knew the family member had herpes.Now her skin is much clearer.

Every now and again she does break out intorashes, but doctorscan provideher with medicine to help alleviate thesymptoms. French-Bell told Inside Edition:

"For the past few months Sienna's face has looked amazing and the infection has not returned.There is always a chance of it coming back, but fingers crossed it won't happen and her skin will stay as good as it is now. It's great to be able to go outside and not get any horrible comments from anyone.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), herpes is a common and untreatable sexually transmitted disease. An estimated one in every six people between the ages of 14 and 49live with the herpes virus.

Women who are pregnant are encouraged to tell their doctors if they suspect they have herpes to avoid passing the virus to their unborn child.

BabyCenter reports that theherpes virus can be dangerous for babies and especially newborns. The virus canspread to the brain and other organs and cause major damage.

Just a few years ago, a baby had to be admitted to the hospital for five days after being infected with cold sores.

French-Bell knows the virus will stay with her child forever, but she's happy her daughter is out of the hospital and back outside again.

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Baby Gets Herpes After Kissing Relative - Independent Journal Review