He Gets Around

Every day here in Krinkeland, we learn something new. Unfortunately, most of it is stuff we wish we never knew... or never had to know. Such is the case today.

A few days ago, while preparing the children for bed, I helped Benjamin brush his teeth and noticed his gums bleeding. I figured I had taken out my impatience with bedtime on my son's mouth, apologized, helped him rinse, and put him to bed. Over the weekend, we were out to eat when Ben started whining and saying his teeth hurt. This has happened on-and-off over the summer, but we had supposed Ben was finally cutting his two-year molars. However, when Todd looked in his mouth, he noticed Ben's gums were really red and swollen. Last night, Ben was awake and crying every one to two hours, not awake enough to verbalize the problem, but begging each time for something to drink.

In between visits to his room, I sat on the computer, searching the terms "swollen inflamed bleeding gums child." I had determined Ben's teeth and gums were suddenly and violently rotting out of his mouth due to the immense doses of sugary nutritional drinks Ben has consumed at naptime and bedtime. However, his dental checkup six months ago was clear and we have recently cut off Ben from the shakes. So, next, I became convinced he had either diabetes or leukemia, as these were the other diagnoses that popped up in my surfing.

At 7:30 a.m., I was on the phone with the pediatric dentist's office. After packing up everyone and dropping the two older girls at vacation bible school, we were off. It took the dentist about five seconds to make his diagnosis: primary herpetic stomatitis, caused by the herpes simplex virus. Yep, Ben has herpes.

Todd occasionally gets cold sores, most often with another illness or a change in the weather. I never thought much about it, though there's no kissing when that's going on. Apparently, though, he was kissing on the number one son, and, according to the doctor, that likely caused Ben's current symptoms. I was told, in children, red, swollen gums appear the first time they have a breakout. And, Ben's mouth is a textbook case. Luckily, he does not have other symptoms, which include high fever and mouth lesions.

So what?
*90% of the population carries the herpes simplex virus. One can pick it up anywhere, but, as mentioned above, there's a likely source in Krinkeland.
*It's highly contagious, but spread through saliva-to-saliva contact. Once again, NO KISSING.
*The effects are more serious on patients with lower body masses. I was warned to keep Ben away from Madeline, and to make sure he does not touch her eyes. A secondary herpetic eye infection can cause blindness.
*There is an additional risk, called a herpetic whitlow, to kids who suck on their fingers, and thus spread the infected saliva to a break in the skin. Ben is a finger sucker, and I'm sure hoping to avoid that.
*Ben should be on a mostly liquid diet, with cool, nonacidic drinks, while his mouth is very sore. One main complication is dehydration, if the child refuses to eat and drink.
*There is some not-totally-understood connection to sunlight. The doctor suspected Ben was infected before last weekend, and then all that time outside at the cabin led to the current symptoms.
*There's no cure. Ben will get it again, but it is highly unlikely to re-manifest itself in the gums. In the future, Ben will get canker sores or cold sores.
*The illness clears up and sores are generally healed within 10 days.

Todd feels awful, of course, probably because I made him feel that way. I can't decide whether to panic when it comes to the other children, my nephews, or anyone else who's had contact with Ben. If this virus is so widespread that 90% of us are walking around with it, I guess we constantly expose each other, anyway. Ben is just unlucky enough to get the miserable part.