Angel … newborn Eloise Lampton died after contracting the herpes simplex virus. Picture: Facebook/Sarah Pugh Source: Supplied
A YOUNG couple has been left heartbroken after their newborn daughter died from a cold sore.
Eloise Lampton was just days old when she contracted the herpes virus from someone at Mackay Hospital in Queensland, where she was born on November 1.
When Eloise lost more than a kilogram in the week after her birth, parents Sarah Pugh and Douglas Lampton believed she had problems feeding.
They rushed her to Brisbane’s Mater Hospital where she was diagnosed with the herpes virus.
Eloise died on November 25 after developing a staph infection. She was just 24-days-old.
“Everyday we’d go in there and it was devastating to see her like that. It was heartbreaking. She was fully sedated but we’d touch her and she’d try and hold our hand. We’d have to put lip balm on her lips and she’d move them,” Ms Pugh told Daily Mail Australia.
“I was shocked. I was devastated to know she was born healthy and then this happened. They (doctors) thought it could have come from me, but I didn’t test positive to the disease. It was passed on through a cold sore. You have to be in contact — kissed or touched. We didn’t have any visitors at hospital. It could have been from anyone.”
Fighting for life … Eloise was put on life support at Brisbane’s Mater Hospital under the watchful eye of her parents Sarah Pugh and Douglas Lampton. Picture: Facebook/Sarah Pugh Source: Supplied
Eloise’s parents, who have three other children, have warned others of the dangers of cold sores.
“Make sure you are washing your hands and taking care with your personal hygiene, it is a must around little kids,” Ms Pugh toldABC.
“It’s good to bring awareness around this, because honestly this is my fourth child, I just planned to be in hospital for six hours and come home and you know when you have four children you are sort of blase because the other three were so healthy, it is pretty unexpected.”
Mother’s heartbreak … Sarah Pugh said she never imagined she’d lose her baby Eloise to a cold sore. Picture: Facebook/Sarah Pugh Source: Supplied
Originally published as Newborn death: ‘It could have been from anyone.’