Gladiators Star's Desperate Plea To 'Stop Kissing Babies' After Daughter Hospitalised

<div><img src="https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/68d15ea918000060e55cfd13.jpg?cache=Ielbd6DlQe&ops=crop_0_364_1835_1051%2Cscalefit_630_noupscale" alt="" data-caption="" data-credit-link-back="" data-credit="juanma hache via Getty Images" /></div><div class="content-list-component text"><p>Gladiators contestant Aneila Afsar has shared an urgent plea to others to “stop kissing babies and children” after her daughter was left hospitalised by a nasty virus.</p><p>Afsar, who made history earlier this year as the first person to compete on Gladiators wearing a hijab, shared a photo of her <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DO0cK17jPRt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">daughter Aya on Instagram,</a> saying she was “on an IV drip because someone kissed her while carrying the cold sore virus (HSV-1)”.</p><p>“I’ve said this since the day she was born: do NOT kiss babies or children unless you are their parent or immediate family and the parents are fine with it,” the mum-of-two from Lancashire <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DO0cK17jPRt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote in the caption</a>.</p><p>“I don’t care if it’s normal in communities or if you ‘mean well’ – cold sores for babies and young children can be severe and even life-threatening.”</p></div><div><img src="https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/68d15fbf1800008ce55cfd16.png?ops=scalefit_630_noupscale" alt="Gladiators contestant Aneila Afsar" data-caption="Gladiators contestant Aneila Afsar" data-credit-link-back="" data-credit="BBC/Hungry Bear Media Ltd/David MacCormack" />Gladiators contestant Aneila Afsar</div><div class="content-list-component text"><p>The worried paren