About kissing diseases
Introduction
A kiss is a passionate display of affection that is shared between two people who have feelings for each other. Most people love the sweet feeling the experience after sharing a kiss but what they fail to realize is that a simple kiss can lead to many infections that can cause kissing diseases. Kissing diseases are the diseases that are contracted through kissing a person who is infected with the particular disease. The kissing diseases are many, and they are caused by different factors but spread through kissing. The spread of infectious kissing diseases through the saliva occurs when the natural resistance of the saliva is compromised due to factors like dehydration, taking of antibiotics and yeast infections.
Mononucleosis kissing diseases
Mononucleosis is caused by a virus known as Epstein-Barr virus that belongs to the herpes viruses' family. This virus is spread through the saliva and is not spread through the blood or air. The Mononucleosis kissing diseases are prevalent among the teenagers, and it is characterized by symptoms like; fatigue, fever, swollen lymph nodes and sore throat. If adults are infected by this disease, it is likely to cause more serious complications like the enlargement of the liver as well as jaundice. The symptoms of this disease manifest after four to seven weeks after exposure. The Mononucleosis disease is diagnosed through a blood test that determines the amount of white blood cells and antibodies. A person who is suffering from the Mononucleosis disease will have an unusual number of white blood cells and antibodies that identify Epstein-Barr viral proteins. The treatment like Acetaminophen is aimed at reducing the symptoms like the sore throat.
Cytomegalovirus kissing diseases
Cytomegalovirus is caused by a virus that belongs to the herpes viruses' family and it tends to affect most people in their life time. It is spread through most of the body fluids like the saliva, tears, blood, breast milk, semen and vaginal fluids. An infected pregnant woman can pass the disease to her unborn baby during the pregnancy or at birth and it can cause permanent disability to the baby. Its symptoms include; swollen glands, fever and sore throat. In pregnant women, it may cause liver inflammation, flu like symptoms and elevated levels of the white blood cells count. Babies who are infected before birth have complications of the liver, spleen and lungs, are small in size, have purple skin lesions and suffer from seizures while others succumb to the many complications. At the moment there are no treatments for the Cytomegalovirus but there are treatments that are used to boost the immune system if it weakens.
Infectiouos diseases from the mouth sores
- Cold sores: they are caused by the herpes simplex virus-1 that is spread through open cold sores that may be near the lips or the mouth. This infection is mostly contagious when the cold sore is open and there is some fluid leaking out.
- Hand, foot and mouth diseases: they are caused by the coxsackie virus that also spreads through open sores in the mouth. It is very common among the children who attend day care or preschool and is mainly spread through fecal oral route.
