To think that you catch cold sores?

[autienotnaughty]

Two of my friends regularly get cold sores they are adamant that they have never caught them from someone but that they were born with the virus? Is this true or are they talking rubbish. ?

• others DO not. That should say.

Never ceases to amaze me the things people spout off about this, and many things, in their heads utterly certain… and totally wrong.

They most definitely “caught” it OP. It’s an acquired virus, usually HSV1 for oral and HSV2 for genital though HSV1 more and more prevalent genitally these days too.

As PP say can be caught immediately at birth from a vaginal delivery if mother has an active outbreak from a newly acquired (primary) infection

Highly contagious with a visible sore, but equally possible to transmit it without any visible sores through “viral shedding”. So just cus they don’t have a visible sore, not off the hook!

Extremely common with about 75% of adults carrying one or the other strain once they are over the age of 25.

Can be very dangerous to a newborn as PP have said, but neonatal herpes is thankfully rare and the issue becomes more complex if the mother has it as baby would have a limited protection from antibodies in the womb / breastfeeding etc.

Easiest way of dealing with this is nobody to smooch babies in any mucous membrane areas eg. Near eyes, nose, lips.
Or just no smooching at all unless it’s the mother.

Given how germy we all are at the moment if all these illness threads are anything to go by I’d be staying well clear anyway 😂

What - off mum's "lower lips"?

They’re idiots it’s the herpes simplex virus passed through skin to skin when someone has an active blister/coldsore.

My mother gets them and I get bloody awful ones not only on my lips but on and up my fucking nose, I’m just getting rid of a fucking massive bastard after 2 weeks.

They hurt like hell, avoid close contact with anyone that has one, avoid sharing towels, drinks etc they are the fucking devil.

oh and to the person who says her mother kisses her dad and has never had one, she may well not get them on her face but she could get them on her vulva. Yes ladies you can get the coldsore strain of heroes down there as well, and they fucking hurt like a bastard

coldsore strain of heroes hahahaha! I meant herpes not heroes, they’re no fucking hero! 🤣

oh and to the person who says her mother kisses her dad and has never had one, she may well not get them on her face but she could get them on her vulva

My mum and sister have NEVER had a coldsore. Anywhere. I've had one on my thumb, that was fucking horrendous.

Yes, “lower lips”.

This is rare, it’s generally applicable only if the mother has recently acquired a herpes infection and is in a primary outbreak.

This is because it takes several weeks for the antibodies to form against future outbreaks, so no time to pass them along to baby in womb and offer any protection.

They could therefore contact sores “on the way out” and contract neonatal herpes.

For a mother with a longer-standing infection it’s not considered a concern and vaginal birth can proceed as planned, but mother will be prescribed anti-vitals leading up to and post birth to prevent any outbreaks occurring

If a known primary outbreak / newly acquired herpes infection is occurring, C-section may be indicated. This is discussed with doctor / consultant.

Hope this helps :)

Yes babies can catch the virus during and after birth, if the mother has an active coldsore.

All it takes is someone to touch the coldsore and then touch the baby. You can even get cold sores in your eyes…

Fuck, just googled finger coldsores thought they were bad enough up and all over my nose 🫣

Any mother who gives her baby herpes on the way out - well - that's a special kind of low. Right from the off too.

would they tell you if they got them on their vulva though? lots of people are embarrassed if they get them down below as they are associated to STDs

@ILoveeCakes Id like to think no mother would deliberately do such a thing :(

I dare say when it happens it’s from an unidentified infection, it can be very difficult to diagnose as so many people have milder symptoms etc

We used to share drinks bottles during sports matches at school. When I was 14/15, I started getting horrible outbreaks. I had my first kiss at 17, so I know it wasn’t due to that.

@Bythehairywartsonmywitchychin

Is right, so many people hide it from shame

I don’t. It’s a hard conversation but has to be done.

Ill happily tell you all here and now I have HSV2 acquired a few years back from a cheating bastard.

Ring the bell of shame!

My little is 6 months now and as it happens I didn’t need the anti-virals around his birth as my body controls the little bastards now and it is dormant.
Still took them though to be on safe side

Family have HSV1 and never try to kiss baby

After a bout of noro and then hospitalised with campylobacter both within the last 3 weeks I’m now just a germphobe and would never get close enough to anyone for me or DS to catch 😂

Fuck, just googled finger coldsores thought they were bad enough up and all over my nose 🫣

I believe theyre called a Herpetic whitlow 🤣🤣🤣
I told the doctor my thumb tringles like a cold sore n felt horribly bruised(I was there for somthing else not justva sore thumb) ...he said it was a bacterial infection and to soak my thumb in solution many times a day. Worst thing to do to keep it soggy like that.
Went back a few days later in agony with the big yellow blister all over it and he was like "oh jesus yea, that's the herpes, you we were right, keep that dry" 🤣

@ILoveeCakes you do realise the mothers don't do it on purpose right?
Plus the majority of babies (and the numbers are pretty low anyways 30 for 100000) are born from mothers with no known infection. That's because measures are taken when it is known.

I over reacted. It's still filthy and disgusting, which is still the sentiment I had in mind.

would they tell you if they got them on their vulva though? lots of people are embarrassed if they get them down below as they are associated to STDs

Ah yea Mother would definitely tell me, we have no shame. Not close to my sister but she tells our mum everything . Plus she and sister like taunt dad and I about our "scabby lips" and how they're so glad they dont have to deal with them🤣.

@autienotnaughty tell
Your friends to take lysine supplements - really help to prevent cold sores

I got my first cold sore when I joined a gym a couple of years back. I’m 61. Not had one before or since.

Surely the most likely thing is that these people caught it as a baby from a family member kissing them. So from their perspective they've always had them, which is why they are saying they were born with them even though its not technically true. I don't think it makes them idiots.

You only have to catch it once to get them “regularly”.

What are you talking about? That’s a ridiculous thing to say.

Ex got nasty ones (he caught it playing sport as a kid) - we were extremely careful when he had an outbreak, and as a result neither me nor the kids get them - and I know I'm clear (or at least was 10 years ago) because it was one of the tests they gave in the country I had my first child. When he had an outbreak he would cover it at night, and we would be strict about separate bedding/towels etc, and hot washing anything he wore/used. I read about asymptomatic shedding, but either we were lucky, or the location of it meant that it wasn't a high risk.

It's not filthy or disgusting - it's a painful, extremely infectious disease, which if we could just talk about and knowledge-share, we could dramatically reduce the transmission of!

Jeepers, your friends need to do their research. It’s a virus that they have caught, very very unlikely caught it from mum at birth as that would have a high incidence of fatality.