Looks like this is a real thing, folks:
"...a holiday kiss may be an unsuspected danger. Allergic grandparents, for instance, have had reactions after kissing grandchildren who had eaten peanut butter. And the problem is more widespread than had been recognized. A study reported at the November 2001 annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology found that when those with nut allergies were asked "Have you ever had a reaction after touching food?" almost 5% volunteered that they had had a reaction after kissing someone who had eaten a nut product to which they were allergic -- up to 6 hours after the kisser had eaten the food. Brushing teeth and using mouthwash seemed to make no difference. " http://www.drgreene.com/21_882.html
Also:
"Cross-Contact, Such As Kissing, Can Cause Allergic Reactions
On Valentine's Day, make sure that little tingle on your sweetheart's lips is a love reaction -- not an allergic reaction. Reactions can occur when a person eats a particular food and kisses someone who is allergic to that food.
"Kissing someone who has eaten nuts can be just as dangerous as eating them yourself," according to Hannah, one of the many young-adult essayists featured in Stories From the Heart: A Collection of Essays From Teens With Food Allergies
. Hannah, who is allergic to peanuts and tree nuts, had a close call once at a party when she glanced across the room to see her new beau eating food to which she is allergic. "I realized that if I had not seen him eat those peanuts, our first kiss goodnight would have resulted in a scary rush to the hospital," she recounted in her essay." http://allergies.about.com/od/holidayallergies/a/blfaan021103.htm and also http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/29/earlyshow/contributors/emilysenay/main1081250.shtml
AND, even worse:
You must remember this, a kiss is still a possible source of venereal infection
Stop before you slip that tongue in. Your kiss might be a killer. "Over the past few years, I've received reports from numerous patients complaining about unexplainable headaches, fever and swollen livers. And the only common link between them was kissing," Tokyo physician Hideo Yamanaka tells Shukan Gendai (6/28).
Japan is being afflicted with Kiss Syndrome, a disease transferred through saliva. Western physicians have known of the ailment for some time, but it was believed Japan had been spared its potentially deadly bite.
But the Kiss Syndrome's Kiss of Death has recently struck in Japan and, Yamanaka says, it's spreading.
"This disease is spread by a virus called EBV. In places such as Asia and Africa where the hygienic environment is poor and many people congregate in closed areas, most build up immunity to the affliction during childhood. But for kids who've grown up in the hygienically advanced environments of the West, people grow into adulthood without developing immunity. If they kiss somebody carrying the EBV virus, they can develop Kiss Syndrome," Yamanaka tells Shukan Gendai.
As many Japanese have grown up in a land where hygiene standards match those of the West, conditions are ripe for the disease to flourish here. Symptoms of Kiss Syndrome include sudden development of a fever, swollen livers, dehydration, diarrhea and migraines. Most outbreaks persist for weeks at a time.
Compounding matters, the Epstein Barr virus, which is also believed to be the cause of the so-called "yuppie flu," has developed into dangerous strains.
"Fortunately, the EBV virus is rarely deadly. But the Allergic Reaction Kiss Syndrome outbreak discovered in the United States poses a fairly serious problem. This is caused when people who have an allergy to a particular food kiss those who have eaten the food they're allergic to. For instance, if somebody allergic to nuts kisses somebody who has eaten nuts, they can develop the Allergic Reaction Kiss Syndrome just because nut particles remained in the person they kissed," Yamanaka says.
Allergic Reaction Kiss Syndrome sufferers can guess they've picked up the disease if they develop a rash, have trouble breathing and develop swollen lips. In severe cases, the illness can be fatal. Nuts are a major cause of outbreaks, but shrimp, crab, fish, eggs and dairy products have all been blamed as well.
A different type of nuts can also be blamed for another strain of the virus that is picked up by performing oral sex on somebody afflicted with a sexually transmitted disease such as gonorrhea or chlamydia.
"Of the venereal diseases, herpes is the worst. About 50 percent of Japanese are said to be immune to the herpes virus, but if somebody carrying it kisses somebody who is not, they can transmit the herpes virus to the lips," Yamanaka says.
Politicians and new parents should beware, too. Kissing babies can be deadly, with herpes-induced encephalitis having a mortality rate of 50 percent among babies up to 6-months-old.
"Carriers of the herpes virus also need to worry about things like stress or fatigue, which can cause an outbreak. Summer, in particular, can activate a herpes virus that had been dormant within the body and cause an outbreak," Yamanaka tells Shukan Gendai. "Golfers can also pick up something called Golfer's Syndrome, which causes sores to break out around the mouth. Anybody carrying the herpes virus could also pick up this disease." http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/waiwai/archive/news/2003/06/20030618p2g00m0dm999000c.html
2006-08-08 04:14:05
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answer #11
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answered by skip 2
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