A mother has shared a powerful message about the risks of kissing infants, sparked by a harrowing incident involving her own daughter.
When Breelyn was just two days old, a well-meaning kiss from a visitor, who unknowingly had a cold sore, led to devastating consequences. The infant contracted HSV encephalitis, a serious condition that significantly impacted her health.
Lacking a fully developed immune system, the virus inflicted severe brain damage as it spread. Breelyn’s mom opened up about the ordeal in an emotional testimony on the Special Books by Special Kids’ YouTube channel.
“If there’s ever a reason to hesitate before kissing a child, this is it,” she explained. “Breelyn was perfectly healthy at birth. But just two days later, a kiss changed everything. Within weeks, she started suffering from seizures.”
These seizures led to significant brain damage and the onset of Herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE), a condition so rare it affects only about one in 500,000 people annually.
The severity of the infection was such that it began affecting her cognitive functions, as her mother detailed. “The infection permeated her brain fluid, aggressively attacking the left hemisphere and just beginning to impact the right when we finally diagnosed what was happening,” she said.
“It essentially eroded her brain tissue,” she continued, revealing the extensive damage caused by the encephalitis.
In the interview, it was also shared that about 60 percent of the left side of Breelyn’s brain and 10 percent of the right were affected. Despite the dire prognosis and the likelihood that Breelyn may not reach adulthood, her spirit remains resilient.
Remarkably, her mother holds no resentment towards the individual who kissed Breelyn, understanding it was an unintended mistake. “It was an accident. They didn’t mean to hurt her,” she expressed.
The story has ignited a flurry of reactions online, with many expressing shock at the potential dangers a simple kiss can pose to a newborn.
Comments ranged from surprise to sadness. “I had no idea something like this could happen from just a kiss. It’s truly eye-opening,” one viewer remarked.
Another confessed, “Being nearly 30, I never realized the risks involved with kissing babies. This is a wake-up call.”
A third shared, “I always knew kissing to be somewhat unsanitary, but I never imagined it could lead to something so tragic. It’s absolutely heartbreaking.”
Given the general surprise at the severity of the situation, there’s a growing call for increased public awareness about the potential health risks of kissing infants.