Herpes virus threatens eyesight

(KPRC/NBC News) A Texas mother is spreading the word about a common infection that can put a child’s eyesight at risk: the herpes virus.

Jamie Boles says a Facebook thread alerted her to the possible cause of the blisters that had formed around her young son’s eyes.

The urgent care clinic where he was originally taken for treatment thought it could be hand, foot and mouth disease, but later tests confirmed HSV, otherwise known as the cold sore virus or oral herpes, had infected his eyes.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, cold sores are common in almost half of everyone in the U.S., but around the eye, it can lead to blindness.

It’s not always known where kids like Boles’s come in contact with the virus, but she’s begging other parents to be aware of how dangerous it can be to babies.

“Parents with cold sores kissing your babies, you can transmit it to them,” Boles says. “On the lips, mouth, it’s not any danger but on the eye is when it’s really concerning.”

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