When faced with the angelic smile of a friend’s newborn baby, it’s tempting to shower his adorable face with kisses.
But don’t do it: as doctors say, kissing a small baby that isn’t yours could be fatal for the child.
Dr. Karan Raj warned his 5.3 million TikTok followers that our faces and mouths are teeming with millions of microscopic bacteria and viruses that can easily be transmitted to a newborn.
While adults and older children have a fully developed immune system, meaning that bugs cause little more than a cold, the same is not true for babies under three months old.
A baby’s immune system is still “training” to protect itself from foreign intruders, and while it may have developed some defense against the bacteria and viruses on its parents’ faces, it won’t be equipped to fight off those it is exposed to. recently exposed.
It means that a bacteria or virus transmitted by a visitor could cross the blood-brain barrier and cause life-threatening complications.
The NHS surgeon issued the warning in response to a video showing a woman putting cling film on her face because she is desperate to kiss her newborn niece.
But Dr Raj said it’s much safer to avoid kissing altogether, in his clip which has racked up 3.2 million views.
Dr. Karan Raj warned his 5.3 million followers on TikTok that even diseases that are not harmful to older children and adults could be deadly in newborns.
The NHS surgeon revealed the terrifying reason in response to a video showing a “funny trick” in which a woman is seen putting cling film on her face because she is “desperate to kiss her newborn niece”.
“These little sprites have an immune system that is undergoing a software update,” Dr. Raj said. ‘They are very immature and are more susceptible to infections.
‘This means andEven infections that cause mild symptoms in older children and adults, such as the common coldcould endanger the lives of newborns.’
Dr. Raj even goes so far as to suggest that family and friends wait two to three months until the baby’s immune system is stronger to plan their visits.
It is believed that the benefits of an occasional kiss from a parent may outweigh the risk, as long as the parent does not have infections such as colds or cold sores.
This is because the physical bond with parents is vital for the baby’s development and the risk of them carrying pathogens to which the baby has not yet been exposed is lower.
Experts have previously warned that some viral infections, which can be transmitted through kissing, can cause young children to develop potentially serious complications, such as pneumonia.
Dr Muriel Meso, consultant pediatrician and endocrinologist at Portland Hospital, part of HCA Healthcare UK in London, told MailOnline that while adults can simply get over a cold, cough or temperature, babies can be affected much more. .
He gave the example of a cold sore, caused by the herpes simplex virus, which often “resolves spontaneously” in adults, without the help of over-the-counter antiviral creams.
But in newborns the virus can spread to the brain, causing seizures and damage to the spinal cord.
The same goes for chickenpox: dehydration, inflammation of the brain and other organs, including the kidneys, are possible complications of chickenpox in newborns.
“If left untreated, they can develop complications such as pneumonia and other serious secondary infections,” Dr. Meso said.