Parents of a toddler were shocked to find out that an infection in his eye was actually caused by the herpes simplex virus, or HSV. Several months ago, the 2-year-old started experiencing symptoms of an eye infection, but antibiotic drops did not relieve his symptoms, his mom told Metro. Over time, the toddler’s symptoms worsened, and he could no longer see. When doctors told the mom that her child’s symptoms were caused by a herpes cold sore, she thought it was a joke at first.
The mom, Michelle Saaiman, 36, had heard of people getting herpes cold sores on their mouths but not in their eyes, per Metro. Doctors apparently believe that someone with HSV kissed the toddler near his eye, causing him to develop a cold sore there.
“I’ve never in my life heard of a fever blister growing on someone’s cornea,” Michelle told Metro.
According to Cleveland Clinic, about 58,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with HSV-related eye herpes each year. HSV is spread through saliva and other bodily fluids. Though it can spread via kissing, it’s also easy for herpes to spread from a person’s hands to their eyes or through shared items like eating utensils.
Without quick treatment, eye herpes can lead to blindness. When Michelle and her partner sought out treatment for their toddler, doctors tried to treat the fever blister but to no avail. “The herpes just caused so much damage to his cornea,” Michelle told Metro.
The mom told the newspaper that her toddler was “completely blind.” Additionally, “the gel la[y]er protecting the eye evaporated and the eye dried out.” He nearly lost his eye entirely. The family traveled from Namibia to South Africa so the toddler could have amnion graft surgery, according to Metro.
Soon, the family will travel to South Africa again for another procedure that will hopefully save the poor toddler’s eye. Per Cleveland Clinic, eye herpes can cause eye pain, redness, swelling, light sensitivity, and vision loss, among other symptoms.
Michelle praised her son for being “a trooper” throughout all of this but noted that “such a tiny human” should not have to “go through all that.”
