Viral Toddler Gets Herpes After Kissing an Adult, Can This Really Happen?

KOMPAS.com- A photo and video showing a toddler suffer from disease Herpes after being kissed by an adult, it went viral on social media.

The story went viral after being uploaded by an Instagram account @tinyhearteducation.

The photo and video post shows a toddler whose mouth and tongue appear small spots like blisters.

In the upload it was also explained that a mother in the Australia named Leah Green said her daughter (the toddler in the photo and video) who was 21 months old had the infection herpes simplex orally after being kissed by another adult.

As a result of herpes simplex, symptoms of small spots appeared around the toddler’s mouth and tongue, which made it difficult for the child to eat and often cried because of pain.

“Listen and learn from my firsthand experience why you shouldn’t kiss babies/children, especially if they’re not yours,” Leah wrote, quoted from Daily Mail.

Also read: Herpes: Causes, Symptoms, and How to Overcome

Then, toddler gets herpes after being kissed by an adultcan it really happen?

Answering this question, Dermatologist and Dermatologist at IORA Dermatology Clinic, Dr Edwin Tanihaha SpKK, MHKes., FKCCS said that problems like those experienced by toddlers in Australia could happen.

Edwin said that actually what happened to Leah’s toddler daughter was herpes labialis.

“Herpes on the lips is called herpes labialis,” Edwin told Kompas.comSaturday (18/2/2022).

He explained, people with herpes labialis can transmit the disease to babies, children or adults if the herpes virus is active.

Transmission herpes diseasewhich happened to a toddler in Australia whose story went viral, could occur through skin-to-skin contact, saliva, eating utensils (spoons, forks), straws or lipstick.

Also read: Scientists Start Trial Vaccine for Herpes Disease That Often Affects Elephants

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