‘Kiss of death’ that almost took the life of newborn baby
ANGHARAD Griffiths’ son was only 19 days old when he became seriously ill with a highly contagious virus that can be passed on to newborns with just the simplest thing like a kiss.
The herpes simplex virus that causes cold sores in adults can be deadly for babies.
It is sometimes known as the “kiss of death” because of the way it is passed on, and can be lethal or cause serious long-term disabilities for babies if it is not caught quickly.
It is why Angharad can’t thank the team at the Noah’s Ark Hospital in Cardiff enough for saving her son’s life, and wants others to know their story in the hope it can save others.
HSV-1 in babies is rare and can be prevented, but if kissed by a person who has a cold sore, a young baby can become seriously ill with the virus as their immune system has not fully developed to fight it off.
Neonatal herpes is the cause of death of up to one baby every week in the UK yet often remains undiagnosed and untreated.
Angharad is a specialist cardiology pharmacist at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, but had never heard about the dangers of passing the virus when you have no symptoms until her newborn son was diagnosed with it.
“Llewelyn ‘Llew’ Tomos Griffiths, our 20-month-old son, was diagnosed with HSV-type 1 meningitis (commonly known as cold sore virus) when he was just 19 days old,” she said.
“To this day we are still so thankful for the staff at Noah’s Ark who saved our baby boy’s life.
“He was fortunate to receive the test and treatment within 18 hours of his admission, and three weeks later we were able to bring our healthy baby boy home.”
Angharad had taken Llew to hospital with a high temperature because she thought he had contracted croup from his older brother Morgan.
“Morgan had been in hospital with croup and, as a pharmacist, I knew it was highly contagious,” she said.
“A few days later,
Even though I work in a hospital, I had never heard of the condition
our newborn son Llew developed a high temperature of 38.6°C and I knew that he needed to be taken to hospital. Noah’s Ark Hospital were amazing. They reviewed him quickly and performed lots of tests. “They were a bit concerned because he had a slightly raised heartbeat, so they did a lumbar puncture and the tests came back showing there were traces of herpes in his brain. “We were so lucky that the doctors were so thorough because not all centres would recognise it and there were not many symptoms. “Because it was caught at such an early stage, it gave him the best possible chance and now he is an active, happy toddler who was walking at 11 months and has been meeting all his milestones, and we are so grateful.” The family are unsure how he could have picked up the virus because they had not seen many people because of coronavirus restrictions, but they are keen to push the message that if you are visiting a newborn you should make sure that you don’t have a cold sore, you wash your hands thoroughly beforehand and never kiss a baby as you can pass the virus when you have no symptoms. Angharad added: “Even though I work in a hospital, I had never heard of the condition but we have been helping to raise awareness and working with the Kit Tarka Foundation.” That charity
Llew’s mum Angharad Griffiths
was set up in 2018 by Sarah and James De Malplaquet who lost their son Kit at just 13 days old.
He never received the tests or treatments for HSV.
Signs of infection in a baby include: ■ Lethargy/extreme tiredness; ■ irritability; ■ high-pitched or abnormal cry; ■ poor feeding; ■ high temperature over 38°C or low temperature below 36.5°C; ■ floppiness; ■ grunting or difficulty breathing (you may notice the baby “sucking in” between and underneath their ribs); and/or ■ rash or sores on the skin, eye or inside the mouth (but not all babies will have lesions when they first become unwell).
The charity says: “After discovering that Kit had died from neonatal herpes (the cold sore virus in babies), Sarah set out to learn as much as she could about this devastating disease.
“She was astonished by the lack of awareness amongst the general public and, most disturbingly, by the huge gaps in knowledge of symptoms and best practice in the UK medical profession.
“It soon became clear that Kit’s death had been preventable and that the lack of knowledge around the transmission, recognition and treatment of the virus had led to his tragic and untimely death.” ■ The family have set up a justgiving page – www. justgiving.com/fundraising/ Angharad-Griffiths9 – to raise awareness and funds for the charity. More on the charity can be found at www.kittarkafoundation.org