THE tragic death of an Iowa baby has reminded me how important it is to protect the most vulnerable members of our community.

Little Mariana Sifrit became sick after contracting meningitis HSV-1, which is caused by the herpes virus.

Both her parents tested negative to the disease, which suggests a visitor who innocently kissed the baby has inadvertently  transmitted the disease to the newborn girl.

On Tuesday morning the baby lost her fight for life.

Now this is a rare an unfortunate case, but it could have been easily prevented if we were all a little more aware of how fragile babies' immune systems are - and of how easy is can be to pass on disease.

I remember seeing one of my friends, a Hervey bay mum, posting about a month out from her daughter's birth that anyone who did not have their vaccinations up to date would not be able to visit her baby until she was old enough to get immunised herself.

I remember thinking how smart that was.

In the past I have visited newborns and I was not vaccinated for whooping cough - I haven't even had so much as a tetanus shot since high school.

I know I need to go and get my vaccinations updated, but it never occurred to me that I might be presenting a real risk to my friend's babies.

Of course there had been times then I was recovering from a cold or the flu and I wouldn't dream to going near a newborn in that state.

But what if we don't yet have signs of being outwardly sick?

That is where vaccination becomes so crucial and important.

I worry that in this age where so many people are vaccine sceptics we will see more and more babies exposed to viruses and diseases that can kill them.

Vaccines do provide protection for healthy people, but even more so they provide protection for newborns, elderly people and sick people whose immune system are compromised.

On top of that, I've known for years that it can be dangerous to kiss newborns.

The World Health Organisation estimates that 3.7 billion people under the age of 50 are infected with herpes simplex virus type 1, which is best known as a cause of cold sores.

That's a lot of people who either know or don't know they have the virus.

One of my friend told me of an incident at a local supermarket where a woman came up to her young son and planted a kiss on him.

This woman was a stranger and while her son laughed, my friend was understandably not amused.

We all need to get on top of our vaccinations - and keep our lips to ourselves when it comes to newborns.