Cold Sores takes 9 day old baby

Louise Foster and Danny Harvey were overwhelmed with joy when their son Riley was born.

But their joy turned into tragedy when the boy stopped breathing.

Louise Foster, the mother, said their son Riley was “perfectly fine” when he was born on May 8, 2011.

But, after 3 days, the parents discovered small cold sores blisters sprouted on the back of his head.

Louise, 20, was also concerned that Riley seemed to be having trouble breathing, but was told not to worry. The causation was linked to the suction cups during birth.

Louise was feeding Riley, her first baby, when suddenly he went limp in her arms, while stopped breathing.

“She turned round and said he’d stopped breathing,” said delivery driver Danny, 21.
“I checked him and I couldn’t find a pulse.”

The frantic parents immediately dialed 911.

Distraught Louise followed the ambulance to Colchester General Hospital in a police car. However, doctors were unable to save the baby.

“They were trying to breath for him, but there was no oxygen in his blood,” said Louise. “That’s when they stopped.

“It was devastating – just horrible.”

Tests last week revealed Riley had caught the herpes simplex 1 virus, a common cause of cold sores.

For youngsters, it can be a killer, attacking the heart, liver and lungs.

The virus can be caught from anyone who comes into contact with a baby.

It is estimated 6-10 babies die a year due to cold sore complications. The virus is usually transmitted from the parents, which attacks the weak immune system of babies. Studies showed that effective cold sore treatment with topical creams have been effective in driving the virus to latency which could help save lives.

“Six babies a year die of the infection, but that’s six too many,” said Louise.

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