"DO NOT LEAVE ANYONE kissing your baby".

This sentence, which clearly sounds like a warning, was posted on Facebook last week by Nicole Sifrit, a young American mother.

At the same time, her daughter Mariana is fighting meningitis. A rare pathology, which unfortunately was fatal to the little girl aged only 18 days. At the origin of this death: a simple kiss.

Facebook page Nicole Sifrit

Herpes labialis, an infection that causes infant meningitis

Born July 1st, 2017, Mariana had been hospitalized a few days after her birth because "she did not eat any more and did not move anymore" explained her mother. It is then diagnosed this serious pathology, which can develop because of a widespread infectious infection: cold sores.

A kiss given to a newborn of a person with this type of herpes (HSV-1) can then trigger the disease that causes significant damage to the brain and liver. Problem: "Orofacial / labial herpes is most often asymptomatic and, in the majority of cases, carriers of HSV-1 infection are unaware of their condition," explains, via its website, the World Health Organization. Health (WHO).

Both parents were tested negative, so a loved one would most likely be at the origin of the contamination.

"The first two months after the birth of a child are very critical, because a virus can spread quickly and cause serious illness," said Dr. Tanya Altmann, pediatrician at Calabasas Pediatrics in California at CNN.

Nicole Sifrit, devastated by the loss of her "princess" hopes that this terrible ordeal can at least serve to help other parents: "In her 18 days of life, she (Mariana) has had a huge impact on the world and we hopefully, with the story of Mariana, we will save the lives of many newborns. "