Kiss Of Death: Baby Killed By Stranger With Herpes

WEST DES MOINES, IA — For the past week and a half, local couple Nicole and Shane Sifrit have been living every new parent's worst nightmare.

The Sifrits lost their newborn "angel" early Tuesday morning, they said online, after 11 torturous days at the hospital, watching the infant's organs shut down one by one. "Our princess Mariana Reese Sifrit gained her angel wings at 8:41 am this morning in her daddy's arms and her mommy right beside her," Nicole wrote on Facebook. "She is now no longer suffering and is with the Lord."

The Sifrits have since set out on a mission to warn other parents about Mariana's killer: a common herpes virus that lies dormant in many adults but is often deadly for newborns.

"Keep your babies isolated," Nicole pleaded in an interview with one local news station. "Don't let just anyone come visit them. Make sure they are constantly washing their hands. Don't let people kiss your baby and make sure they ask before they pick up your baby."

The Signs

Mariana was born "perfectly healthy" on July 1, according to a GoFundMe page set up for the family.

But just one week later — on her parents' wedding day, no less — the newborn fell into a state of total unresponsiveness. "We noticed she stopped eating," the father recalled in one interview, "and wasn't waking up when we were trying to get her to respond."

Still dressed as bride and groom, Nicole and Shane Sifrit rushed their baby to a nearby children's hospital in Des Moines, where doctors gave them a devastating diagnosis: Mariana was battling a herpes virus called HSV-1.

The virus was likely transmitted, doctors said, by an adult herpes carrier who had touched or kissed the child in recent days. And while the adult would remain unaffected, Mariana could very well die.

The Ordeal: 11 Days Of Hell

Over the next week and a half, the Sifrits would watch the herpes virus ravage — and eventually kill — their little girl.

Nicole documented the entire ordeal on Facebook, sharing updates on Mariana's decline with a growing follower base of sympathizers and supporters.

"Our princess is fighting for her life on life support after being discharged 100% healthy," the young mom wrote on July 8, one day after Mariana's diagnosis. "This has to be the worse nightmare I've ever lived!"

Within the baby's first 24 hours at the Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines, she was put on life support as the virus attacked her blood, bone marrow, kidneys, liver and brain, according to Nicole. During that time, the little girl received constant blood transfusions to replenish all the blood she was losing; suffered repeated seizures; and flatlined at least twice, her mom said.

"We know she is a fighter because she is still here today," Nicole wrote on the night of July 8.

Around 36 hours later, though, Mariana took "a severe turn for the worse," her mom wrote, due to artery blockage in her liver that caused both her liver and kidneys to fail. "With both of these major organs failing at one time it's very hard for her 9 day old body to keep up," Nicole wrote.

In a final attempt to save Mariana, doctors airlifted her to the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City that same afternoon, where she could undergo dialysis.

As soon as the baby arrived in Iowa City, doctors stuck needles in Mariana's stomach in order to drain fluid that was leaking into her heart and lungs. "Since she isn't peeing they are afraid it's urine," Nicole wrote.

Two days later, doctors began dialysis — but quickly ran into complications, as Mariana's fragile body still wasn't draining fluids properly. Meanwhile, the blood vessels surrounding her heart were leaking oxygen and blood with increasing abandon, her mom said.

"The look on the doctors faces are blank n stunned but we can't lose hope," Nicole wrote on July 14. "We r praying for you princess Mariana."

But by July 17, the baby's chances for survival were looking bleak. "My heart is crushed, my baby is declining fast!" Nicole wrote. "She has no brain activity and her lungs and heart are failing along with her kidneys and liver. They are running out of options for her."

Less than a day later, Mariana was dead.

How Did This Happen?

The Sifrits still don't know who gave Mariana herpes. The parents both tested negative, they said, so it couldn't have been them. "It was not through pregnancy, birth or her parents, we do know that," a friend of the family wrote on a GoFundMe page created to help cover Mariana's medical costs.

And they may never know who it was.

While herpes is extremely common among adults — well over half the world's adult population is believed to be infected — it can be fatal for a tiny, developing body like Mariana's, according to recent studies.

These studies show that both common strains of the herpes virus — HSV-1, the strain that killed Mariana, and HSV-2, which is more commonly passed through the genitals — can be given to a child by an adult carrier even when the adult isn't showing signs of infection.

"It should be noted that HSV can be transmitted even if there are no visible sores," said one 2014 study from Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

It Could Happen To You, Too: Baby Deaths From Herpes On The Rise

In the United States, around one in 3,200 newborns — or some 1,500 babies per year — come down with herpes, according to the New York City study.

There are three ways this can happen:

1. If a baby's mom has herpes, the baby can become infected while in the uterus
2. If a baby's mom has herpes, the baby can become infected during childbirth
3. Once the baby has been born, the baby can become infected by an outsider carrying the virus

The most common scenario, blamed for 85 percent of all infant herpes cases in the U.S., or nearly 1,300 cases per year, is No. 2.

And the next most common scenario, as in Mariana's case and 10 percent of cases overall, is No. 3.

The death rate for herpes-infected newborns is around 30 percent, according to another 2016 study out of NYC. (Although that figure can fluctuate significantly based on the economic status of the baby's family and their access to the best health care.) Even among the babies who survive, approximately 17 percent are left with long-term brain damage, the study found.

And the situation is getting worse: Infant deaths due to herpes "appear to be increasing" in recent years, the 2016 study said.

The study's NYC-based authors aren't sure exactly what's causing this trend. However, they found it could be related to another trend: In recent years, more American women have been contracting HSV-1 during child-bearing years than in years past, they wrote. And this could mean the disease is increasingly being passed from moms to babies before the moms' bodies have had time to build up the strong stock of antibodies that might otherwise protect the child.

But no matter the reason for the rising herpes death toll among newborns, NYC researchers found that without more "routine surveillance" of the disease — as well as "the development of a vaccine that is effective against both HSV-1and HSV-2" — the frightening trend is likely to continue.

This week, one of Nicole's Facebook friends shared the following story of another baby boy, also from Iowa, who died some seven years back after being "exposed to the cold sore of a visiting family member."

How To Protect Your Kid

"DON'T LET ANYONE kiss your baby," Nicole Sifrit warned her social media followers after Mariana was diagnosed with the HSV-1 strain earlier this month.

Although it's not quite that simple, experts give similar advice.

Here are some tips from New York state health officials:

• If you are pregnant and have a history or signs and symptoms of genital HSV-2 infection, tell your doctor as soon as possible. A C-section delivery is recommended if a mother has an HSV-2 outbreak near the time of birth.

• Everyone should wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water before touching the newborn.

• Do not kiss your baby or let others kiss your baby if you or they have cold sores on the mouth or lips.

• All newborns should be seen by their health care provider between the first and third week of life.

If your baby does end up contracting the herpes virus, initial symptoms may include a low-grade fever of 100.4 degrees or higher, a reluctance to eat, irritability, seizures and skin rashes, such as pimples or blisters, according to government health officials.

And as the disease progresses, an infected baby will "become very sick quickly with high fever and seizures, and may become lethargic (floppy)."

See any of these symptoms in your newborn? "Notify your doctor immediately," health officials say.

Images courtesy of the Sifrit family