Are Cold Sores on your Mouth considered Herpes?

[Tigger&Belle]

I now have three kids & my youngest got them when she was 2 & ended up in the hospital & on IV because she couldn't eat (she is now 13). She flares up every once in a while but no one in our house ever gets them beside her. She has them now as a matter of fact. The doc has us mix 1 tsb of Kopectate & 1 tsb of Beneydral. She rinces (spits out) her mouth 2-3 times a day with it. We do not even call the doc anymore, we know exactly what we have to do. The Kopectate makes the Beneydral stick to the lining of the mouth to relieve the pain. The virus runs its course & in about a week she will be ok. She gets them about 4 times a year or so. Again, I want to say, no one in our house gets them when she has her flare ups...

That sounds like canker sores--the kind in the mouth, which is different than cold sores which are on the lip. There was an interesting thread recently about canker sores--my son gets them and has been trying some things that he read on that thread.

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Can you catch it if say someone touches their mouth and then you shake their hand? Is it that contagious?

Yes you can! Before the days when nurses wore gloves (hard to believe, but glove use was pretty uncommon until the advent of HIV), nurses used to get herpes infections of the fingers (herpes whitlow) from putting a finger over the hole of a suction catheter when suctioning a patient's mouth or trachea.

Herpes infections can also be spread during contact sports (e.g., wrestling).

 

[salmoneous]

Am I the only idiot who thought that canker sores were the same thing as cold sores? You can learn something new every day on the DIS. Thanks.

 

[OceanAnnie]

This thread reminds me of a story a nurse told me years ago. It was so sad. This mother was trimming her newborn's fingernails using her teeth (!). Yes, she had the herpes virus on her mouth. It spread to the newborn's fingers. You know how a newborn touches everything. Before the nurses knew what had happened it had spread all along the side of the newborn's face and top of head. The fingernails cut the skin and the infection spread from there.

That poor baby. Anytime that child was subjected to stress he/she could have a potential outbreak. So sad. And so unnecessary for someone to go through.

 

[poohluvrs]

This thread reminds me of a story a nurse told me years ago. It was so sad. This mother was trimming her newborn's fingernails using her teeth (!). Yes, she had the herpes virus on her mouth. It spread to the newborn's fingers. You know how a newborn touches everything. Before the nurses knew what had happened it had spread all along the side of the newborn's face and top of head. The fingernails cut the skin and the infection spread from there.

That poor baby. Anytime that child was subjected to stress he/she could have a potential outbreak. So sad. And so unnecessary for someone to go through.

Heartbreaking! If adults could get over the stigma & be cautious maybe kids would be aware & not get them. WHen our nephew was over last weekend (had HUGE "cold sore") I couldnt leave my little girls alone w/ him -its so stressful & sad, kids dont know any better, his Mom obviously didnt tell him what it was, he kept touching it, licking it, he was a mess b/c he didnt know what it was - agh! So I had to police the kids b/c its so contagious, I lysoled everything, worse than I would a room at Disney!

 

[Christine]

My cousin's son was kissed by someone with oral herpes when he was a baby. Now when he gets flare ups, they start on the side of his face and have gone into his eye before. He has to go to some special eye clinic all the time when it happens because they worry that he could go blind from it.

 

[Aneille]

Yes you can! Before the days when nurses wore gloves (hard to believe, but glove use was pretty uncommon until the advent of HIV), nurses used to get herpes infections of the fingers (herpes whitlow) from putting a finger over the hole of a suction catheter when suctioning a patient's mouth or trachea.

Herpes infections can also be spread during contact sports (e.g., wrestling).

I just recently read about Herpes Whitlow because I had a finger infection due to a hangnail. I do/did not have whitlow though. While I was looking up how I should treat it, I saw the whitlow but didn't put 2 and 2 together I guess.

 

[poohluvrs]

My cousin's son was kissed by someone with oral herpes when he was a baby. Now when he gets flare ups, they start on the side of his face and have gone into his eye before. He has to go to some special eye clinic all the time when it happens because they worry that he could go blind from it.

This is sad, but also why I refused to allow people kiss my babies! Also, now that theyre older Im still looking out for it - no PDA!

I can imagine how painful that is for a little one! Poor thing

 

[sajetto]

My cousin's son was kissed by someone with oral herpes when he was a baby. Now when he gets flare ups, they start on the side of his face and have gone into his eye before. He has to go to some special eye clinic all the time when it happens because they worry that he could go blind from it.

Good lord, I never even thought about something like that happening. If I ever have any kids, I'll be putting my baby in a haz mat suit and telling everyone to back off!

 

[Christine]

Good lord, I never even thought about something like that happening. If I ever have any kids, I'll be putting my baby in a haz mat suit and telling everyone to back off!

Well, he's 24 years old now and, fortunately, when he gets outbreaks he is now old enough to use the antiviral drugs that are available so that he could stop progression into his eye. When he was a child, they were very reluctant to put him on these medications.

I'm sure the person who kissed him on the face had no idea what they were doing and, as pointed out earlier in this thread, probably didn't even have an active lip sore. I don't understand why people need to KISS your baby anyway? Isn't holding and cooing enough?

 

[sajetto]

I'm sure the person who kissed him on the face had no idea what they were doing and, as pointed out earlier in this thread, probably didn't even have an active lip sore. I don't understand why people need to KISS your baby anyway? Isn't holding and cooing enough?

Thats what I wonder too. I've never felt the desire or need to kiss anyone's baby because I don't want to catch anything from them as badly as I don't want them to catch any cold or bug from me. It just seems odd to me to be kissing all over someone else's baby. I know babies are cute, but I wouldn't do that to an adult so what makes a baby so different?

 

[poohluvrs]

Thats what I wonder too. I've never felt the desire or need to kiss anyone's baby because I don't want to catch anything from them as badly as I don't want them to catch any cold or bug from me. It just seems odd to me to be kissing all over someone else's baby. I know babies are cute, but I wouldn't do that to an adult so what makes a baby so different?

ITA! Before I had my kids, a good friend of mine had just had a baby, she was in line at the grocery store & a little old lady leaned in to kiss her baby, my friend shrieked & did tell her to back off! I thought this was overreacting, until I had my own kids! Im not going to stand back politely & risk my baby getting sick or diseased. Its a different world today

 

[DisneyWithMyBoyz]

I get cold sores (Herpes) and have been getting them for as long as I can remember. It's a hereditary thing. My Grandmother, my mom, my aunt and my little sister all suffer from them.

Mine flare up from too much sun or when I am getting sick. I take all precautions as soon as I feel that tingle that lets me know one is coming on. In 9 years I never spread them to ex-h. And neither of my kids get them.

I am so tired of seeing all of these references to STD's when discussing cold sores of the mouth. A majority of people who get chronic cold sores did not get them from any kind of sexual activity. I am tired of being made to feel like I am "dirty" or that I am the reason that herpes (all kinds) is spreading.

Yes, there are irresponsible people out there who don't realize that cold sores can be transmitted. But that is no reason to assume that ALL people who suffer from them are so lax about it.....

 

[PrincessKitty1]

I get cold sores (Herpes) and have been getting them for as long as I can remember. It's a hereditary thing. My Grandmother, my mom, my aunt and my little sister all suffer from them.

Herpes is not hereditary--it's an infectious disease that you catch.

Nothing to do with your post, but I've got to add that I don't believe for a MINUTE that you can't catch herpes from a surface despite all the "authorities" assurances that it's only spread mucus membrane to mucus membrane, through non-intact skin,etc., etc. Too many people have herpes infections that they have no idea how they caught--I bet people spread them from sharing drinking glasses, etc.

 

[DisneyWithMyBoyz]

I didn't mean hereditary as in genes...I just meant that it goes around in my family.....and it certainly wasn't because we were all having relations with each other! LoL!

 

[RachelEllen]

Yes you can! Before the days when nurses wore gloves (hard to believe, but glove use was pretty uncommon until the advent of HIV), nurses used to get herpes infections of the fingers (herpes whitlow) from putting a finger over the hole of a suction catheter when suctioning a patient's mouth or trachea.

Herpes infections can also be spread during contact sports (e.g., wrestling).

Kind of off topic, but an OB nurse I work with was telling me that when she trained, the were not allowed to wear gloves. (This was many years ago) Because it would be insulting to patients! (wish there were a 'gag' smiley)

 

[PrincessKitty1]

Kind of off topic, but an OB nurse I work with was telling me that when she trained, the were not allowed to wear gloves. (This was many years ago) Because it would be insulting to patients! (wish there were a 'gag' smiley)

Yes, my nursing skills textbook from the early 1980s instructed nursing students to NOT wear gloves while doing colostomy care as it would be demeaning to the patient--after all, you wouldn't wear gloves if you were toileting a patient without a colostomy.

Scary, huh?? Yeah, in the early to mid-80s, gloves were not worn for routine procedures like wiping bottoms, bathing newborns (I bathed dozens if not hundreds of newborns fresh from their mothers' wombs and covered with everything you can imagine), drawing blood, suctioning, etc.

 

[Christine]

I didn't mean hereditary as in genes...I just meant that it goes around in my family.....and it certainly wasn't because we were all having relations with each other! LoL!

Wow, now I get cold sores on my lips occasionally, have been reading this thread and never took ANY of this the way you did. I think people have said that the oral version of herpes *can* be spread elsewhere and you need to be careful.

I'm sure most of us got it from our parents/siblings/etc from innocent good night kisses and the like.

 

[MouseWorshipin]

Just checking back to see if anyone has fessed up to having the bad herpes.

...not yet, I guess.

 

[Christine]

Just checking back to see if anyone has fessed up to having the bad herpes.

...not yet, I guess.

Does it count if I tell you that a friend I had many, many years ago had it?? She had it very bad and it was very painful. I probably was friends with her for a few years before she even told me about it. She had to have her son via C-section because of it.