KISS ME SICK

Mum warns against giving a peck to babies after her son Koby caught deadly virus

- LOUISE WALSH

A YOUNG mum whose child is suffering the long-term effects of a deadly virus is urging people to stop kissing babies 

Three-year-old Koby Symes has been in hospital three times already this year because his lungs were left badly damaged after he contracted Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) when he was just four months old.

As Koby fought the virus in hospital, medics told mum Zoe McGlade that he had probably picked it up from people kissing and holding him with unwashed hands.

Zoe is now appealing to people to keep away from babies as cases of the highly contagious RSV soar to ‘unprecedented levels’. The 25-year-old from Swords, Co Dublin advises all parents of newborns: “Protect your child before you protect other people’s feelings and tell them to keep away from your baby.