It
was a simple, sweet kiss from a family member that ended up endangering
3-year-old Sienna Duffield's health.
Sienna's
mother, Savina French-Bell, 21, was concerned when her child's face suddenly
erupted into blisters on her second birthday, Inside Edition reports.
“It
started to look like someone had thrown acid over her face, it spread from her
mouth to her cheeks, and above her eyes,” French-Bell said. “People would give
us horrible looks, children would stare and adults would make nasty comments.”
What's
more, the child had stopped eating. Even worse, her mother began noticing blood
on the toddler's clothes.
Doctors
were perplexed, diagnosing Sienna with various ailments ranging from eczema to
allergies.
"For
eight months, no antibiotics were working as the infection kept coming back and
her face was being ravaged,” said French-Bell. "I was told she may have
allergies to something, so I kept her away from pets and made sure she no
longer consumed any dairy products.”
Finally,
after all the treatments had failed, doctors realized what was going on: the
child had the incurable herpes simplex type one virus.
“I
realized that she kissed a family member last year which brought on the
infection," French-Bell said. "Everyone in the family was
distraught."
Thankfully,
Sienna's face went back to normal after doctors prescribed flucloxacillin
antibiotics -- but Sienna is still not totally in the clear.
Although
dormant now, her herpes can flare up at any time.
French-Bell
is happy her daughter can at least live more like a normal child.
"For
the past few months Sienna's face has looked amazing and the infection has not
returned,” her mother said. "There is always a chance of it coming back,
but fingers crossed it won't happen and her skin will stay as good as it is
now. It's great to be able to go outside and not get any horrible comments from
anyone.”
This
was not the first time a child contracted herpes after a well-meaning person
kissed them.
U.K.
mother Claire Henderson shared photos of her baby on Facebook after she
contracted herpes, shocking many.
"Please
share this with every new mum and pregnant woman you know," she wrote in
September 2015. "Before 3 months old, a baby cannot fight the herpes
virus. If a baby contracts this it can cause liver and brain damage and lead to
death."
Sources: opposingviews.com