HSV-1 INFECTION KILLS NEWBORN MAGNOLIA

Meg Edmonds said her newborn daughter Magnolia died from a herpes simplex virus infection in February. Magnolia, known as Maggie, died on 11 February, 10 days after her birth. The infection spread through her body and caused multiple organs to fail. Blood tests confirmed HSV-1, and Maggie went into cardiac arrest the night before she died.

Edmonds described Maggie as “perfectly healthy” at birth and said she fed well for the first few days. On the day she gave birth, Edmonds developed ulcers on her lips and mouth and asked whether she had a cold sore. She said midwives and pharmacists reassured her, while another account said medics had described the ulcers as hormonal. Maggie became sleepy by her third day, then developed breathing difficulties, a weak, high-pitched cry, a chest rash and a sore eye. Edmonds said Maggie later became grey and cold to the touch before entering paediatric intensive care at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

Edmonds said clinicians initially attributed Maggie’s symptoms to breastfeeding difficulties, jaundice and weight loss. She said she learnt only on the day Maggie died that her own sores had probably been a primary HSV infection, though she has never received a formal diagnosis. The following day, Cordelia went to hospital and received a diagnosis of primary HSV infection. Edmonds said she believed she may have passed the virus to Maggie and urged other parents to learn about the danger cold sores can pose to babies.