Hidden Diseases Behind Kisses

Kissing someone else can lead to anything from mild illnesses like oral herpes to more serious problems like viral meningitis or mumps.

A kiss contains up to one billion bacteria from 278 different species. 95% of these bacteria are harmless, but research in The American Journal of Medicine shows that they can still lead to health problems. Here are the diseases you can easily get when kissing someone, according to Medical Daily.

Oral herpes

Cold sores around the mouth are the first sign that a kissing partner has passed the disease on to you. Oral herpes is spread through open sores or saliva, sometimes causing ulcers inside the mouth or throat that cause swollen lymph nodes in the neck. Cold sores usually heal on their own within 8-10 days.

Viral meningitis

You can get viral meningitis if you come into contact with someone else's saliva through kissing. This highly contagious disease causes inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord.

Early symptoms of viral meningitis include headache, fever, chills, fatigue, nausea, and neck pain. If you suspect you have the disease, you should see a doctor immediately.

Photo: kevinmd.com.

Cytomegalovirus

Your first kiss as a teenager can expose you to Cytomegalovirus (CMV). This virus is spread through bodily fluids such as saliva, blood, and urine and can stay inside the patient forever.

CMV rarely causes serious consequences, but children, pregnant women or people with weakened immune systems are susceptible to pneumonia, hepatitis, rash. Newborns exposed to the virus while still in the womb often have neurological and developmental problems. Adolescents and adults with the disease will experience fatigue, muscle aches, headaches, fever, and swelling of the liver and spleen for about 3 weeks.

Mumps

Mumps is spread through respiratory secretions. The first sign of mumps is swelling of the salivary glands around the ears, as the disease mainly affects this area. In addition, mumps patients may have fever, headache, muscle aches, fatigue and loss of appetite.

Flu

The flu is easily passed from person to person through mucus or saliva. Common symptoms include muscle aches, headache, sore throat, high fever, and runny nose.

In addition, polio is also one of the diseases spread through kissing but has almost disappeared thanks to vaccines.

According to VOV