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A baby nearly died after contracting a virus doctors believe was spread though a kiss.
Mum Lucy Kendall, 23, became concerned when her son, Oliver, slowly stopped drinking milk throughout the night when he was just 11 days old.
Anxious that he would become dehydrated and worried he was arching his back in pain, Miss Kendall and her partner, Jaz Miller, rushed Oliver to hospital, Hull Live reports .
He was transferred straight to the High Dependency Unit and a heated bed with oxygen, with a feeding line and a number of cannulas also inserted into him.
Doctors carried out numerous tests on Oliver and, eventually, he was diagnosed with the herpes simplex virus eight days later.
"As you can imagine we were just shocked and couldn't comprehend what had just been said," said Miss Kendall, who gave birth to Oliver on August 3.
"The doctor began to explain the herpes simplex virus-1 can be passed onto a newborn baby if a person has a cold sore and kisses the baby or touches the baby after touching the cold sore.
" Cold sores are at their most contagious when they burst, but they remain contagious until completely healed. "It was just absolutely dreadful. "Both of us didn't have herpes or cold sores, we were just heartbroken.
"The condition is known as the kiss of death and it was just devastating for us all."
Oliver spent a total of 21 days in hospital before he was allowed to back to his home in Kingswood.
He will be on antibiotics for the next six months and will require regular tests.
Miss Kendall said: "It has been the most traumatic time of my life, especially with me being a new parent as well.
"Having your first baby is scary enough, never mind having to go through all this."
Neonatal herpes is extremely dangerous for young babies, because their immune systems have not fully developed to fight off the virus.
A baby boy from Greater Manchester tragically died when he was just ten days old after catching the deadly vuirus from his mother.
Miss Kendall said: "One in three babies can die if they contract the virus, it is so dangerous and people need to be aware of it more.
"My message is to please respect newborn babies and stay away if you have a cold sore.
"We are the lucky ones. A few hours later this could have been so different. Keep your babies safe."
Oliver's family would now like to thank all the staff who cared for him at the Hull Women and Children's Hospital.
Miss Kendall said: "Everyone at the hospital was absolutely amazing.
"All the staff got really attached to Oliver. They were sad to see him leave but glad he is recovering well."
Warning symptoms to watch for in your baby are:
Lacking energy and being more sleepy than usual Stop feeding Floppy Have a high temperature Have a high pitched cry Have breathing difficulties or start grunting Breath rapidly Have a blue tongue
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