“If the kissin art, has always represented love in a mystical-erotic context, in medicine it has been understood in a divergent way, as a way of strengthening the immune system thanks to the transmission of millions of germs in a few seconds and, at the same time, as a potential transmitter of infections, sometimes even serious ones, just think of mononucleosis or those respiratory viruses that became protagonists in the era Covid. Not to mention the new frontiers that the analysis of salivary microbiota offers regarding cariogenic germs, possibly exchangeable, such as streptococci, lactobacilli and actinomycetes. However, it is unthinkable to demonize the kiss because it would mean opposing every sacrosanct tension of sociality and consolidation of emotional relationships.“. This is what the immunologist told Adnkronos Salute Mauro Minelli of the Foundation for Personalized Medicine. Tomorrow is International Kissing Day.
“Therefore, although it is sometimes necessary to dispense it with prudent caution, for example to newborns or immunologically debilitated people – specifies the expert – I remain firmly convinced of the fact that kissing must continue to be a way to manifest and spread good feelings and positive sensations”.
Mononucleosis or ‘kissing disease’ “it is caused in most cases by the virus Epstein Barr (EBV), the rarer Cytomegalovirus (CMV). 80% of adults have antibodies for EBV, we find it in the saliva of adults who are not aware of having it. It is renamed the kissing disease precisely because newborns get the infection from the kiss of an adult, hence the recommendation of mothers not to kiss babies on the mouth, but EBV is found in all objects where saliva settles, from the toys that newborns put in their mouths to cutlery”. The virologist explains Mauro Pistellodirector of the Virology Unit of the University Hospital of Pisa and vice president of the Italian Society of Microbiology.
How is mononucleosis diagnosed? “From the analysis of white blood cells and then there are specific markers for EBV – the virologist replies – This virus causes what is called lymphocytosis, it infects lymphocytes and stimulates them to proliferate in an uncontrolled way, almost ‘immortalizes’ them. On the other hand, the immune system intervenes with T cells that go to destroy the virus that, if not kept under control, could also lead to lymphomas and leukemia. But in most people the symptoms are a fever that can last for a long time, even 2 weeks, a sore throat with whitish plaques, persistent tiredness. In rare cases in adults it can lead to an enlargement of the spleen, but in an immunocompetent subject everything resolves quickly, while children can be completely asymptomatic even if the virus infects them in the first few months precisely with the kiss of adults”.
If the kissing disease in those who contract it as a child can at most cause them to skip school, in some parts of the world, such as Africa, “it can cause lymphomas in subjects with immune system problems, but they respond well to chemotherapy”. To deal with mononucleosis “there is no specific therapy, it resolves without after-effects – concludes Pistello – Immunoglobulins are being evaluated, but it is still not clear whether they work or not. The Epstein-Barr virus lives in very balanced with the human organism, it knows how to hide and nest very well, so it is not easy to ‘catch’ it. There are also studies on a possible vaccine, but we are still far away”.
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