A four-week-old UK baby was left fighting for his life when he contracted herpes in his eye after being kissed at a christening.
Noah Tindle and his mother, 21-year-old, Ashleigh White attended a christening in September 2018, when Tindle was a newborn.
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Tindle was passed around to multiple relatives and friends, who were all kissing and hugging him, White told Caters News Agency.
"About a week later, his eye started going a little bit red. It started swelling and getting blisters, so we ended up taking him to the doctors," White said.
Tindle was admitted to Barnsley Hospital in Northern England, where White shared her fears of the possibility of herpes to the doctors.
"I've read something on Facebook about another baby having the virus and blisters looked exactly the same," she said.
"What I didn't realise is that even if you don't have an active cold sore, you still do carry the virus in your system and saliva, meaning you can never be too careful," she told Caters.
Tindle's test results came back a few days later, confirming White's fears.
Tindle was diagnosed with Herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1), which is known as the "kiss of death".
"The virus was on his eyelid, but we managed to catch it before it could enter the bloodstream, but he couldn't open his eyes for days," White told Caters.
White was told by doctors that Tindle was likely to have caught the virus through an infected adult kissing his face, which almost caused him to lose sight in one eye.
"I just want to make more people aware of the risk and consequences of kissing a baby, especially when you suffer from cold sores. I know how heartbreaking it can be seeing your baby so poorly," White said.
Tindle was sent to Sheffield Children's Hospital and had to have a long line fitted to receive anti-viral medicine.
"He spent two hours in the theatre for what should have been a half an hour operation because he was so tiny," White said.
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Tindle received the anti-viral drugs for two weeks, an hour a time, three hours a day.
The young boy is now nine months old and spent two and a half months in the hospital recovering from the disease.
He will have to receive the anti-viral drug for nine more months, after a relapse in March 2019.
"We still have a long way to go yet before we're out of the dark and still continuously having checkups with his doctors," White said.
"But after our appointment with his doctor yesterday he is happy that Noah is well and happy, so it’s good to know you’re doing something right."
Newshub.
