Kissing has great benefits such as burning calories, it also releases endorphins and oxytocines, which regulate the person’s mood and sexual patterns.
However, this simple gesture can generate several viral and bacterial diseases, due to the exchange of fluids and mucous membranes.
Experts warn that good oral hygiene is maintained to avoid these infections.
Here we show the most common diseases that can occur with kissing:
1.Streptococcal infection
It is also known as ‘strep disease’. This bacterium is found in the mucus of the nose and throat, which is very easy to spread through saliva.
The symptoms are: infection and acute pain of the throat, fever, nausea, abdominal pain, among others.
2.Herpes:
It spreads due to the herpes simplex virus and can manifest up to two years after infection.
When you get this sexually transmitted disease red blisters appear on the lips, other symptoms may be inflammation, itching, crusting or fever.
3.Mononucleosis:
Known as the “kissing disease”, it is more frequent among young people and its main symptoms are: fever, sore throat, lack of appetite, swollen lymph nodes, fatigue or enlargement of the spleen.
It is mainly transmitted by direct contact with saliva.
4.Meningitis:
It is spread through saliva, causes inflammation of the membranes. Other symptoms are: headache, contractures, vomiting, high fever, colds, among others.
This should be treated immediately because it can be more dangerous when it is prolonged.
5.Hepatitis B:
Although this disease is transmitted only through the blood, there are possibilities that are contracted through kissing.
This can occur when the affected person has a wound in his mouth and comes into contact with another person’s saliva.
6.Flu and colds:
It is one of the most frequent infections, since these viruses are easily transmitted through saliva.
7.Gingivitis:
This bacterial disease directly affects dental plaque, but recent studies confirmed that by kissing someone with gingivitis and not maintaining good oral hygiene, you can get it.
8.Sexually transmitted diseases:
Both gonorrhea and syphilis can be spread through to kiss, because they are present in the saliva.
- Cytomegalovirus:
This virus is spread by contacts with body fluids such as saliva, blood, semen or breast milk, among others. It is incurable and stays in the body throughout life.
Cytomegalovirus most commonly affects developing fetuses and is the most common viral cause of congenital anomalies in industrialized countries.
Most healthy infected people have no symptoms after birth, while others have a syndrome similar to infectious mononucleosis.
10 Warts:
They are skin lesions or mucous membranes caused by the human papillomavirus. They have the appearance of granular patches on the skin that most often occur in the mouth or fingers, although they may also appear in other parts of the body such as the mouth.
- Caries:
Many of the bacteria that cause tooth decay can reach your mouth through kissing. The positive is that the saliva, own or foreign, if healthy, fights against bacteria, viruses and fungi.