Why this mum is warning parents not to kiss their babies
A mum is warning parents not to kiss their babies after a ‘kiss of death’ is believed to have killed her newborn, from a disease that “ate her lungs and brain”.
Baby Aliza Rose Friend was just eight days old when she died after contracting the preventable HSV-1 virus or neonatal herpes after being kissed by a carrier or touched with unwashed hands.
Doctors told her 19-year-old mum Abigail Rose Friend, there was no way to know who gave it to her.
Now the devastated mum is bravely speaking out to warn other parents not to kiss their newborns or let anyone else do so either – and to always wash their hands.
“I hope that her story can bring awareness to people to not kiss babies and to wash your hands,” Ms Friend, from Maryland, US, said.
“Aliza was healthy for a day and a half. It took the virus six and a half days to completely destroy her body.
“Some family and a few close friends came to visit her when she was born.
“There’s no way to ever know who gave it to her because it’s such a common virus. It could have been anybody.
“It could have been a doctor for all I know.”
The rare condition occurs in less than five per 100,000 births in Australia and causes fluid to build up around the child’s lungs and brain.
The little girl was eventually declared brain dead after the virus “ate away her brain,” devastating Ms Friend and her partner Tyler Hensley, 26.
Ms Friend sang ‘you are my sunshine’ to her daughter as she passed away on May 20.
Months after the death of her daughter, Ms Friend shared her story in an online status.
“I’m never going to stop sharing the gut wrenching, heartbreaking, soul shattering story of our sweet Aliza Rose,” Ms Friend wrote.
“Someone touched her without washing their hands or kissed her face while being a carrier of the virus. And anyone can be a carrier and not show signs!”
The emotional post received more than 500,000 reactions, shares and comments.
-With Kennedy News and Media
