(WFLA) – It’s a medical alert for Tampa Bay area parents, but first a warning, the photos and videos in this story are heartbreaking and may be difficult to look at.
Juliano, 14 months, lives in Iowa with his mother Samantha Rodgers. She is sharing her son’s story to help prevent other situations like the one she is dealing with.
Little Juliano is suffering from a severe outbreak of cold sores. His mother says it all started with a simple kiss.
It’s a story dominating social media and a lot of people just don’t believe you can give a baby the herpes virus by kissing them.
So, we went to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital to get the truth from a specialist.
Dr. Juan Dumois is the Director of Infectious Diseases at the hospital and says this case isn’t rare and can happen to anyone.
“Herpes in a child can be acquired from a well-meaning relative who does kiss them,” he said. Dr. Dumois says even the smallest sore can have a tremendous amount of virus germs present.
His advice to protect your child is simple, “If someone has a sore on the lip, don’t even ask what it is. Just say ‘I’d rather that you’d not kiss the child right now.'”
It’s advice Rodgers agrees with.
She shares her words of wisdom to help other parents and says, “All I can say is just be cautious. It can be anybody. Your best friend. Your sister, your brother or your mom. It can be anybody. Everybody needs to wash their hands, sanitize. If you see a cold sore or anything on them, just don’t let them come by your baby.”
Doctors treating Juliano in Iowa say he is slowly improving and may be able to go home soon where he’ll be able to finish his treatment.
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