Little Mariana died of viral meningitis. She was infected with the herpes virus, transmitted through a kiss from a loved one.
Born healthy, little Mariana died just 18 days old in Iowa (United States). She was infected with the herpes virus after a loved one gave her a trivial kiss. Her mother, Nicole Sifrit, posted photos and alerted parents on social media with a shocking message: “Don’t let anyone kiss your child.”
Newborns are very fragile in the first months of their life. Their immune system is not able to fight off all the viruses and bacteria it may encounter. In the case of infection with the herpes virus, children can develop viral meningitis. This is what happened to Mariana, reports the American channel CNN.
A week after her birth, the young parents noticed that she was no longer eating and not waking up. “She stopped breathing, and all of her organs just started to fail,” her mother explained. The parents then rushed to the hospital. Doctors diagnose meningitis, and place the little girl in intensive care. A few days later, she succumbed to the disease. Blood tests performed on the parents revealed that they did not carry the herpes virus. It is therefore an infected relative who infected the little girl.
Do not kiss on the mouth
This sad story is not the first to make the headlines in the media. In 2015, a little Briton was also infected with the herpes virus. Fortunately, the child was saved and is doing well today.
On this occasion, the doctors then recalled that this virus is difficult to fight in infants because it spreads very quickly. It becomes fatal when it crosses the blood-brain barrier and reaches the brain.
To avoid contaminating toddlers, it is very important to wash your hands well before taking care of them, not to kiss them on the mouth and a fortiori to limit the number of people who kiss the child during his first weeks of life.
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