Horrific photos show a three-month-old baby covered in bleeding blisters after his herpes-infected mother gave him cold sores after kissing the infant on the lips.

The little boy became infected with the virus after his mother regularly kissed the newborn.

The child was taken for medical treatment in China when his body broke out in sores and blisters, and he had a high fever due to the infection going untreated for days.

Horrific photos show a three-month-old baby covered in bleeding blisters after his herpes-infected mother gave him cold sores after kissing the infant on the lips

The baby was first taken to a clinic before being transferred to hospital in the Zhejiang Province in East China, reported the Sun.

Doctors were concerned for the child and first thought he was suffering from a skin condition, but after more tests confirmed it was herpes simplex virus 1/ HSV-1.

While HSV-1 - which causes cold sores -is generally harmless in adults, it can be very dangerous to newborns who have vulnerable immune systems.

Cold sores are highly contagious and can spread through saliva, skin-to-skin contact or by touching an object that someone infected with the virus touched, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The child was taken for medical treatment in China when his body broke out in sores and blisters, and he had a high fever due to the infection going untreated for days

Doctor Zhu Haiqiao said to the paper: 'The three-month-old's body and especially his face and head were red and covered in sores. It was painful to look at.'

Doctor Zhu thinks the mother passed on the virus to the child when lovingly kissing the baby.

Luckily, the boy was treated and has been sent home.