Autoinoculation in Children

[Worriedmama1]

Hi Terri-

I believe my 7 year old has her first oral herpes outbreak. I can’t say for certain as we have not had it tested, but it looks to be a cold sore and she had a random 24 hour fever/sore throat on Monday. Unfortunately, I must have given it to her as I’ve gotten cold sores as long as I can remember and recently have had a couple. However, I am very concerned about autoinculation as she is only a few days/week into her first outbreak. I know this sounds odd, but laying in bed at night she likes to rub the skin right next to her vagina as she says it soft and soothing. I wouldn’t be surprised if she did this right after picking at her sore too as she won’t leave it alone. Obviously I will be telling her not to do this anymore, but it’s probably happened every night now for at least a week and I didn’t even think of it until I realized today that she likely had a cold sore and not just a pimple. I’m panicked and sick to my stomach that she’s already given herself genital herpes. Is there any chance she didn’t infect her genitals?

Thank you for you time.

[Terri Warren]

I can understand your worry, of course, but this was a while ago (sorry, I’ve had COVID) and I think if she was going to have done that, she would have by now and she would have told you about it. Did you ever end up having the lesion swab tested?

Terri

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