Four days after the symptoms began, a local urgent care clinic prescribed him medication used to treat herpes, as it was presumed he had symptoms of Bell’s palsy caused by the herpes virus.
Three days later, he was brought to a city hospital emergency department in Ontario with painful swallowing and vomiting.
A physical exam found ulcers in his gums and a mild impairment in a nerve on the right side of the face that provides sensation and controls chewing.
The boy’s family told the doctors about the incident with the bat and, the next day, the emergency doctor notified the local public health authority.
However, the hospital discharged the child on a presumed diagnosis of herpes gingivostomatitis, which is sores in the lips or mouth caused by herpes.