(RNN) - A newborn baby whose body was racked with a deadly form of meningitis died Tuesday morning. Doctors say she could have contracted from a kiss.
Little Mariana Sifrit was being treated at University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital. Her mother Nicole Sifrit announced her death on Facebook at about 9:15 a.m. CT.
"Our princess Mariana Reese Sifrit gained her angel wings at 8:41 a.m. this morning in her daddy's arms with her mommy right beside her. She is no longer suffering and is with the Lord," Nicole Sifrit wrote.
Nicole Sifrit thanked everyone who supported the family and Mariana through her 18 days of life.
"My heart is crushed, my baby is declining fast! She has no brain activity and her lungs and heart are failing along with her kidneys and liver," she said. "They are running out of options for her."
Mariana was born July 1. Her parents married July 7, and it was then they noticed something wasn't right with their baby girl, they told WQAD.
She wasn't eating and wasn't waking up, so they left their wedding early to take her to the hospital in Des Moines.
There, they learned their baby girl was infected with meningitis HSV-1, caused by the herpes virus, the same virus that causes cold sores.
Both parents tested negative for the virus, so doctors say the newborn may have picked up the virus from someone who visited the baby.
Last week, Mariana's condition worsened, and her organs began failing. She was airlifted to University of Iowa Stead Family Children's Hospital, where she was placed on life support.
Doctors hoped is that the baby's liver would have been able to repair itself.
If she survived, Mariana faced a three- to six-month hospitalization, CNN said, as well as long-term health problems from the damage the virus has already done to her little body.
Many people carry HSV-1 without even knowing that they have it and thus spread in unwittingly, the Meningitis Research Foundation said.
Though it is very common to catch the virus, it's rare that it develops into meningitis, Dr. Tanya Altmann, a pediatrician at Calabasas Pediatrics in California, told CNN.
Experts warn parents of newborns to be very careful in the baby's first months as a virus can rapidly spread and cause serious illness in newborns.
Make sure visitors wash their hands, and anyone who is contagious or has a rash should stay away, What To Expect said.
Small children, who carry loads of germs, should be told not to touch the baby's hands or face.
After an outing or a visit from company parents should clean baby's hands.
Contact your doctor if your baby develops symptoms of the herpes simplex virus in the six weeks following birth, including a low-grade fever (100.4 degrees or more rectally), poor feeding, irritability and skin rash in the form of pimples or blisters, seizures or other similar symptoms, the New York State Health Department said.
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