Mother Shares Warning With Parents After Toddler Contracts Herpes Virus Through Kiss

A mother from Northern Ireland is warning parents not to let their child be kissed by a stranger after her 16-month-old son was diagnosed with the herpes virus.

Maria O'Neill of Derry, Northern Ireland told Inside Edition that her son Parker got the virus in August. She noticed something was wrong when his temperature skyrocketed and he got a rash.

She took him to a doctor, who said he just needed cream for a rash. But O'Neill knew it was something much worse.

"I just felt there was something else behind it," she told Inside Edition. "The rash didn't look normal... Every time the doctors turned me away it seems to get a lot worse, so my mother's instinct kicked in and I knew there was something more to it."

After he developed blisters, she took Parker to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with the herpes virus.

"We are lucky we caught it in time. It was very scary," she said.

Parker stayed in the hospital for a week and needed three different medications. He's getting better, but is suffering from eczema, a condition that makes skin red and itchy. O'Neill has to put cream and bandages on his skin every day.

"They said his blood changes every seven years so it could just go away or it could flare up if he's run down," O'Neill told Inside Edition.

O'Neill said her doctors are not completely sure how he got the herpes virus, but theorized it could have come from someone who kissed him. "Maybe he got it in passing or someone touching him... Maybe it was one of the play groups he was at," she said.

She still warns parents of the danger of letting people kiss your baby.

"Don't let anyone kiss your baby," she told Inside Edition. "Don't let anyone near your baby if you have a cold sore."

According to STDCheck.com, there are two strands of herpes — oral herpes and genital herpes. Oral herpes is sometimes known as "cold sores," which are transmitted by kissing and sharing drinks or utensils.