A TODDLER has died after catching herpes – as his devastated parents share a heartbreaking warning.
Three-year-old Raffy Holliday’s mum Imogen, 35, from Deal in Kent, wants the NHS to do more to protect transplant patients.
Raffy died at Great Ormond Street Hospital(GOSH) in March after suffering inflammation of the brain caused by the human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B).
HHV-6B is one of nine strains of the herpes virus.
It causes the common childhood illness exanthema subitem, also known as roseola or sixth disease, which shows up as a mild fever and rash.
Some 70 per cent of children will get HHV-6B by the age of three, with most developing a natural immunity that stops them falling ill again.
Yet further sickness is common in transplant patients and can be fatal for those with weakened immune systems.
Raffy, who was undergoing treatment for leukaemia and had received a bone marrow transplant, lived with the active virus for two years before it took his life.