Mum Horrified After Tiny Blister on Infant Turned Out to Be Something Deadly

A mother is warning other parents after a small blister on her baby’s head turned out to be something much more dangerous.

Rhian Brace, from Doncaster in the UK, told Yahoo7 News her son Ernie was just 14 days old when he was rushed to hospital.

Ms Brace had taken her son to see a doctor on September 10 after noticing a small blister on his head.

“I originally thought he had had a reaction to something in my home, or maybe a reaction to something that I bathed him in,” she said.

In a Facebook post, she wrote that the blister had popped after a bath and she cleaned the area and re-washed it to prevent any infection.

blister 2 blister 3 blister

Just days later, she noticed he had another four blisters, before another six popped up overnight.

She was originally told Ernie had eczema, and that other than the blisters, he showed no signs of a more serious problem.

“Ernie didn’t show any signs of anything other than the ‘spot blisters’ multiplying on his head,” Ms Brace said.

“But I have been advised by medical professionals that I and others should look for things like not eating or drinking, change in behaviour, less nappies or change in soiled nappies, breathing changes, temperature and, of course, if you notice spots like I did.”

He was eventually diagnosed with the herpes simplex virus, also known as a common cold sore.

“The virus that Ernie was diagnosed with can be contracted via human contact, both through vaginal delivery or through people wanting to touch or kiss your baby,” she said.

Ms Brace said doctors had confirmed that Ernie had not contracted the virus through her.

“So that leaves it down to someone that has been in contact with my child that either kissed him or didn’t wash their hands, even though I had specifically asked for everyone to do so,” she said.

Ms Brace said the herpes simplex virus might not seem that bad, but it could spread to the blood and vital organs, leading to sepsis or vital organs beginning to shut down.

She said it could be “just as deadly as meningitis” in babies.

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20 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 22 Nov 2022
    10:26 am
poor little guy. I hope he is all well and good now.

- - mom81879 said
  - 09 Nov 2018
    7:47 pm
Not good at all. They make out parents are being paranoid if they insist visitors are vaccinated or if they insist on no kidding, but it’s done for good reason

- - mom74005 said
  - 08 Nov 2018
    8:53 am
That is just terrible this poor young family. Just echos the message you need to be careful with who comes in contact with Bub

- - Blossom said
  - 12 Oct 2018
    10:17 pm
I wonder if the infection is on your lips before it is visible and that is sometimes how it is transmitted.

- - tessie said
  - 08 Oct 2018
    10:39 am
That would have freaked me out. Hopefully Ernie makes a full recovery with no side effects. So glad you were able to get him sorted. Hope all is okay now.

- - rachel1970 said
  - 05 Oct 2018
    5:55 pm
What a horrible thing to happen. Poor little mite. I feel for the family.

- - curlytops said
  - 04 Oct 2018
    8:00 pm
What a terrible thing to happen. I feel for the family and baby.

- - Amanda Holland said
  - 04 Oct 2018
    1:36 pm
It seems to be a regular occurrence these days

- - mom19782016 said
  - 04 Oct 2018
    10:37 am
Wow, I had no idea it could be spread so easily and that it could blister anywhere on the baby

- - littlehandsofmine said
  - 04 Oct 2018
    9:36 am
oh gosh I get cold sores all the time, so does my mum!

- - sars_angelchik said
  - 04 Oct 2018
    9:04 am
Poor little thing

- - Ellen said
  - 04 Oct 2018
    8:51 am
poor baby !
So important for people who have cold sores to be diligent about hygiene and kissing indeed.

- - rovermum said
  - 04 Oct 2018
    8:34 am
Wow, I’ve never seen or heard of this before in a baby. Thank God this Mum was vigilant.

- - mom206279 said
  - 04 Oct 2018
    7:08 am
My mum gets cold sores, so she was always very careful not to pass it on to us. Thankfully I never got that virus. Makes me so mad that people think their right to give a baby a kiss is more important than that baby’s health.

- - Myrlie said
  - 03 Oct 2018
    10:25 pm
Unfortunately I suffer from cold sores. I don’t get them often thankfully but when I do I’m so paranoid about it and do everything I can to avoid passing it along to my children or my partner. Someone passed them along to me as a kid, I don’t want to pass along this lifelong ailment to anyone.

- - mom101628 said
  - 03 Oct 2018
    9:10 pm
Terrible thing to have happened. Hope the person who passed this on to this baby feels dreadful and doesn’t do such a thing again.

- - MuthaNita said
  - 03 Oct 2018
    9:03 pm
Never knew this could happen and it’s scary to think how often our kids may be exposed to someone with this virus (given how common it is). Poor baby.

- - MisChip said
  - 03 Oct 2018
    8:31 pm
Oh my goodness this is just awful.

- - Stef said
  - 03 Oct 2018
    8:14 pm
Poor thing! I can completely understand why parents are hesitant to let people hold/kiss etc there newborn.

- - mom114371 said
  - 03 Oct 2018
    2:30 pm
Poor bubba! I’ve never had a cold sore but still wouldn’t eve kiss a newborn. They are just too vulnerable.