I have a unique situation and wanted to ask the experts for guidance. I gave birth to my son 18 months ago. It was an induction because I had preeclampsia. I have no prior history of hsv symptoms or outbreaks but had a partner in the past (10+ years ago that may or may not have had it when we were sexually actively) that being said, I had a vaginal birth. 18 hours after my son was born he had what looked like seizure activity found to be a intraventricular hemorrhage ( not common in full terms) one of their differential diagnosis if he had kept seizing was hsv work up. Once they saw the bleed & the extent of it they decided not to do a lumbar puncture, and he was never diagnosed with encephalitis however, to this day it plagues me if he had it, and wasn’t diagnosed. He had a low grade fever( they had to take him out of the warmer which naturally leveled his temp) but no rash and no seizure activity noted on his EEG. He’s had all normal MRI since then.  From what I’ve read kids that get herpes encephalitis get very sick and a lot of them have neurological problems later in life he is developing normally and did not receive any antivirus. Just some antibiotics. Does this sound like neonatal encephalitis? And If so could he have survived without treatment and be developmentally normal? Do babies who have just encephalitis have skin reoccurrences or can spread the virus to figure sexual partners. I have so much anxiety  ptsd from all of this and would really appreciate your expert

My opinion here is that this is not at all related to herpes encephalitis but I've asked Dr. Hook to weigh in on this as well.  Generally speaking, babies with herpes encephalitis have far more symptoms than your son had, especially since his follow up MRI and EEG were normal.  It's very scary, I know, when a doctor says they might need to do a work up for herpes, but it sounds to me like things resolved with further complication.  Is your child functioning normally now?---

Ok great I will wait for Dr Hooks response as well.

Greetings. As it happened, it was a bit more convenient for me instead of Dr. Hook to add a comment, but he and I exchanged emails. We agree with Terri's excellent reply. We are not pediatricians or typically involved in infection management in newborns, but we can assure you that infections, including herpes, always are very much on the mind of those managing newborns with seizures or other neurological issues, and it sounds like his doctors at the time considered it. But to the extent that I understand the details of neonatal herpes, I agree with Terri that the problems you describe are not typical for it. (I also have personal experience with HELLP and its consequences in the baby -- my granddaughter also had intracranial bleeding and early fears of developmental delay. But now she is 17, entirely healthy, and sending in her university applications!)---
---

Thank you for your reply. That’s wonderful news about your grand daughter too. Was your granddaughter preterm?

We generally do not make specific referrals, and I am unaware of any online pediatric ID forums. -- sorry! Any major medical center in your general area probably has pediatric ID expertise, or your child's pediatrician should be able to recommend a resource for informal (or as we call it, "curbside") consultation.---
---
---

Thank you Dr. Handsfield.  I completely agree.  It sounds to me like this has been weighing on your mind for quite a while. I'm glad that you reached out to us and extra glad that Dr. Handsfield had a personal connection with you about the HELLP issue.  If your son is developing normally and is healthy, I see no reason to continue to worry about this.  Please try to accept this reassurance and just enjoy your little boy.---