Nearly died from a stranger's kiss.

Chloe, a British girl, suffered brain swelling and fell into critical condition after a friend of her parents visited and kissed her.

Baby Chloe Clare was just 5 days old when she suddenly fell into critical condition due to an unexplained illness. Doctors even had to inform her mother, Lynette, that her daughter might not survive after a deadly virus – related to the common cold – caused Chloe to develop brain swelling.

"Kissing a newborn baby is perfectly normal because you just want to show them love and affection. So when the doctor said Chloe's illness was caused by a virus she contracted from someone with a cold through a kiss, I couldn't understand how something so simple could almost cost her her life," The Sun quoted the mother of four, who lives in Cheshire, England, as saying.

A friend with a cold held Chloe in her arms and kissed her despite having sores on her mouth, unaware that she was transmitting the virus to the baby. Photo: Mercucy Press

Lynette recounts that she gave birth to Chloe at Warrington Hospital on March 12, 2013. Five days later, she took her baby back to the hospital for screening tests, including a heel prick blood test, and noticed her daughter's sleep patterns were somewhat unusual. Late that night, Lynette had to take Chloe to the emergency room because her body temperature had risen to 42 degrees Celsius while her hands and feet were ice cold.

After being transferred to the intensive care unit, doctors announced that Chloe might not survive the night. A counselor determined that Chloe had contracted the Herpes Simplex Virus (HPV-1) from a family friend who had visited and kissed her. This friend had had a cold a few days earlier.

The doctors immediately gave the little girl antiviral medication. After three weeks in the hospital, she finally made a full recovery and returned home.

"None of the midwives in the maternity ward warned me about the risks of a cold to newborns; I really didn't know how dangerous it was."

Chloe is currently 3 years old but is not developing normally like other children her age. Photo: Mercucy Press

Although Chloe, 3 years old, is currently quite healthy, doctors have diagnosed her with microcephaly. She also has difficulty speaking and her motor development is slower than other children.

"Parents need to know about this. I almost lost my daughter, and I don't want other parents to go through what I felt on her first night in the hospital," Lynette added.

According to Ngoisao.net