Does Your Child Get Fever Blisters (Cold Sores)?

I have to say that I am totally confused about what the previous posters are saying. My 4 yr. old son gets fever blisters really bad any time he gets a fever. The Dr. said it was a Herpes Virus. My husband has gotten them all his life as well, but the confusing part to me, is the contagious part. My daughter and I never get them, even if we get kissed by them. I do know that his get worse on the outside of his mouth, chin area, and if they dry out, he scratches them and that spreads it, but only on him. They look like a bunch of tiny canker sores. He got it bad the first time and he has them again as we speak and it's just as bad. All over his chin. His doctor prescribed an antibacterial cream for it, but it rarely works. It eventually goes away on it's own, but leaves scars if he scratches it. I keep Vasoline on it to keep it moist. I too am interested in more information. Keep us posted. Good luck!
K.

Goodness people. Listen to your doctor(!) and be thankful that it is not a cold sore. Everything that he says sounds exactly correct. I had them as a kid and they decreased over time. I might get one every couple of years now. Cold sores have a very distinct look to them and are not hard to diagnosis. Relax.

Hi L.! My oldest daughter, Olivia, gets cold sores in the winter time. When her lips get chapped or sunburned (windburned) she'll get an outbreak. They used to last over a week...but then I found some awesome stuff that I put on it that if we put it on as soon as she feels the "heat" it goes away within 2 to 3 days. She's never had more than 2 at a time though. I don't let her kiss her baby sister or us parents either!! lol Not until it's almost gone. The stuff I use is works really good, is all natural and can be used for burns, scrapes and blisters too.

T.
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I am not a doctor but I am a nurse. I would say that your doctor is probably right. Once you have seen a real herpes simplex sore you can spot them a mile a way. There are several kinds of sores people get around or in their mouth and they get lumped into one big name-cold sores.
Just like anything else your immune system is exposed to the first time is the worst. Say chicken pox, the first time you get exposed-chicken pox sores everywhere. Your body learns the virus and builds tools to fight it off. Yes once you have chicken pox, the herpes zoster virus lives in your nerve root forever. However, it doesn't cause you problems because your immune system keeps it at bay. If you have something decrease your immune system-illness, stress, age, you can have a re occurance know as shingles.
Herpes simplex is similar, the first time your body is exposed you have nothing to fight it off with, so the break out is severe. In children whose immune system is still developing it can be a large break out. If infants are exposed to herpes simplex it can overwhelm the body and possibly cause death. This is why women with genital herpes sores can not have babies vaginally. Once your body is exposed it builds some immune response to help fight the virus. So people will have a break out when their immune system is decreased, however because the body has some tools to fight against the virus the breakouts are not usually as bad as the first. Hope that is helpful.

Well I'm not a Dr but i am in medicine and I worked with kids 9 yrs. I have only seen one instance of that description and it was on a child with compromised immunity. The common cold sore is caused by a virus called herpes zoster. Look it up and you will find out some other interesting things about it, including how long it is contagious etc.
Relax they are common and will not harm your child permenately.
S.

I'm agree with Rebecca. What people tend to call "cold sores" have nothing to do with a cold but are caused by the Herpes Zoster virus, which is what Chicken Pox is.... once you have had Chicken Pox you can break out with "cold sores" or "shingles" for the rest of your life. They are contagious when there is a blister.

I have no idea what you're doc was talking about, maybe there's another kind of sore that isn't a "cold sore"/"fever blister" that would decrease with re-occurence, but Herpes Zoster gets worse with age.

If she's got Herpes Zoster, she's got it and you just have to be careful when there's a blister. There are meds she can take to lessen the time and effect. This is not the same as the sexaully transmitted Herpes. One is caused by Chicken Pox, one is not. Both are called Herpes, but not the same kind.

It could be just a bump like the doc said. I have friends who have outbreaks of on their lips and backs and they are cranky, feel ill, and feverish. You can look up Herpes Zoster or Shingles on-lines and find photos to compare.

My son just got his first one at 3 1/2 and yes - it was all over. Both corners of his mouth and just inside his nose. My daughter (2) also recently got her first and it was smaller, but grosser (is that a word?). Anyway, it was just on the corner of her mouth, but had several bubbly "heads"

The dr. gave us a presciption. Works great!

That was me.. I had cold sore all through life even when i was a kid.. First it was what I drank or ate The out breaks were never BAD except for when I had a reaction to a medication or if I my mom did not stop giving me the stuff that I am allergic to because she did not realize it right away.. Also every body has the herpe geans in there spin. some people never have an out break and some may.. Dont freak out just keep eye on it dont share cups spoons forks toys if she has put them in her mouth. it can spead.. I have had it all my life. I dont have many break out enless I drink to much OJ or stress or outside in the sun in the summer.. If you have anymore question give me shout..
J.

I had a cold sore on my lip out of the blue and dont know where I got it. It was only one bump, didnt hurt, didnt act like a cold sore does from what I am told.

Freaking out I bought that cream to put on it and medication to help fight it...I had just had a baby and couldnt kiss her until it went away.

It is better to be safe than sorry! It may be nothing but I would still be cautious and protect the other child until it scabs over.

Tea tree oil (Melaleuca alternafolia) is fantastic for killing cancer sores and fever blisters, etc. Very good stuff and gentle enough to use on your kiddos. Just be sure the essential oil you get is a high quality one. Check out my business listing if you want to get some mail order.

Just FYI from an earlier post: Cold sores are NOT Herpes Zoster. They are normally caused my HSV (Herpes Simplex Virus) type 1 where as HSV type 2 is normally in the genital area and Herpes Zoster is when the Chicken Pox virus resurfaces after the initial chicken pox outbreak. Unfortunately, HSV 1 (cold sores on mouth, nose) and 2 (genital) can swap places on the body in sexually active people and I will let your imagination help you figure out how. :)

A typical Herpes outbreak--any type be it HSV 1, HSV 2 or Chicken Pox--normally has an initial larger episode and then smaller ones in the future. The future outbreak of Chicken Pox would be the Zoster episode.

The Dr. could be right that it is just an abrasion. But if it is a cold sore, she does have it for life. I would not let her share toys/drinks with her sister or others until it is gone--just to be safe. But don't panic, it is just a cold sore and I believe I have read that something like 90% of the population has some form of the herpes virus in their bodies from HSV 1, HSV 2 or chicken pox. They are all herpes viruses.

If the red spot goes away in a day or two it was probably just a bump, abrasion. If it ulsers, it is a cold sore. You can look at pics on-line.

My father had a very mild chicken pox episode as a toddler that did not build up an immunity. As a child he got Zoster. It was so bad that he was confined to a totally dark room for months. It scarred him, damaged his vision, and left the skin on this forehead, scalp and some places on the left side of his body so thin that he can tear through it if he scratches or rubs to hard. At my father's request, when my kids had their Chicken Pox shots, we kept them far away from him to make sure they didn't form any pox blisters that could be transfered to my father.

At that point, I did tons of research to find out about Zoster and chicken pox. If you jump on-line, you can find out anything you want about all, I believe, 8 types of the herpes virus and what each does.

Good luck!

Hope it is not a real cold sore. Cold sores are caused by a Herpes virus and are incurable so she will get them and be able to pass them on throughout her life.

I can't offer you much from a child's point. My husband seems to be prone to them. We have four kids, been married 14 yrs, and me nor our kids EVER have gotten them from him.

Seems like one of us would have gotten on from him by now... I won't kiss him when he has them, but the kids they just pop up and kiss you before you realize it.

I don't know if that makes you feel better about the contagious part of it or not. Just thought I would share...

Good luck with this..

My daughter gets them really bad. When she had her first case of them she was 3-4 yrs old. We took her to the dentist first, we had no idea what it was. Her gums and tounge broke out first. (she couldnt eat and just cried) The dentist said we needed to take her to a doctor b/c he couldnt do anything for her. After going to the Doctor we were told they were herpes(cold sores). Which we were really shocked being that me nor my husband has ever had them. They are very contagious so who knows how she got them. He gave her a couple different meds for her to gargle with and we got some ointment to put on them. She is 7 now and she gets a small break out about once a year. Usually on her lips, but sometimes on her gums. She can tell us now when she is about to get one and we go ahead and put medicine on it. The doctor said she will have these the rest of her life. He said stress and being sick plays a big part of the breakoutt. We try to make her wash her hands as often as possible, dont share drinks or chap stick, and not to kiss people when she has an outbreak. My main fear is that my one year old will get them from her. I know this is forever long! Sorry. But I hope this helps.
C.

My youngest son, Henry, gets them. Well, he had the initial BAD breakout and has only had one blister since then. YOU WILL DEFINITELY KNOW when they get the first breakout. IT is AWFUL!!! Henry's mouth was covered inside with sores and his gums swelled so badly they covered his teeth. He lived on ice cream and jello for a few days. Our pedi said that she gets more kids hospitalized for dehydration from these breakouts than from stomach bugs.

Do you or her dad get fever blisters? I'm the reason my son gets them, I kissed him on the mouth when I was starting to get one (but didn't realize it). And My dad gets them also. So just be super careful if either of you are prone to them. If s he didn't have the initial bad breakout then it probably is just an abrasion.

I would trust your doctor.