Charlie caught his first illness from daycare.  He woke up the Thursday before Thanksgiving with a slight fever, and he was drooling like crazy. We just thought his rear molars were coming in, so we sent him to daycare with an extra shirt.  But Charlie’s daycare called us to come pick him up early that day because he had a fever, didn’t eat his lunch, didn’t drink his milk, took a short nap, and he just wasn’t his normal, happy self. I still thought he was teething, but once we got home, I noticed Charlie had what looked like a large canker sore on his inner lip. My brother and I were plagued with canker sores throughout our childhood (they’re genetic and it’s unclear what causes them other than stress), and I knew just how painful they were. Charlie had fallen on his mouth while planking on our sofa and ottoman a couple nights earlier, which would explain the canker sore. But then I saw two more sores on his tongue.

After some googling, we thought that Charlie might have the Coxsackie virus, or hand foot and mouth disease – a very common virus kids under 3 often catch in daycare. Charlie’s symptoms included: fever, sores inside his mouth, drooling, loss of appetite, bleeding gums caused by gingivotomatitis, and bad breath. All of his symptoms fit for Coxsackie virus, but he didn’t have a rash. I emailed the mom of Charlie’s closest friend at daycare, as I knew he’d recently been out sick for a couple of days. Her son had HSV-1 otherwise known as the Herpes Simplex Virus 1, and after we looked up the symptoms, we realized that Charlie had the same thing!  The symptoms of HSV-1 are the same as the Coxsackie virus, except HSV-1 does not cause a rash.

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Apparently HSV-1 is very common, and most people get infected during their preschool years. Many parents initially misdiagnose the Coxsackie virus and HSV-1 for teething like we did, because of the drooling. HSV-1 is the same virus that causes cold sores, and there is no cure. The initial outbreak is usually the most severe, and it is also highly contagious. Once HSV-1 is contracted, there isn’t much you can do except to administer pain medications and keep your child hydrated. But you should keep a close watch on their eyes for redness or light sensitivity. Herpes that spreads to the eye is very serious and can cause permanent eye damage, so it should be treated right away.

Charlie stayed home for 5 days, and we gave him Motrin and Tylenol to help with the fever and pain. His mouth hurt so much he didn’t eat much other than drinks and ice cream for almost an entire week. He was the crankiest he’s ever been, and threw multiple tantrums a day from the moment he woke up until bedtime. He was understandably miserable, but we were pretty miserable too trying to juggle work and one unhappy little boy. His symptoms are now gone, except ten days later his gums are still bleeding a little bit.

This was Charlie’s first time catching something at daycare, and it’s probably the most sick he’s ever been.  We’re just happy to put it behind us and that Olive didn’t catch it, although it means that Charlie now has the herpes virus!

What have been some of your LO’s biggest illnesses?