Kisssing may be responsible for a form of the herpes virus that causes an AIDS-related skin cancer called Kaposi’s sarcoma.
Kaposi’s sarcoma causes purple skin blotches and can also attack the internal organs. The virus rarely causes sickness among people with normal disease defenses but attacks those with weakened immune system as in AIDS.The virus known as herpes virus 8 was discovered six years ago. Almost 30% to 50% of HIV-infected people who catch herpes virus 8 will eventually get Kaposi’s sarcoma. The study found that those who involved in “Deep kissing” i.e. open-mouth kissing that involves a lot of contact with saliva — appeared to be at substantially higher than usual risk of catching herpes virus 8.
There are other forms of the herpes virus that cause chicken pox, shingles, cold sores and genital herpes.
The Herpes Virus 8 was dicovered by Dr. Patrick S. Moore of Columbia University in New York, he felt that exposure to saliva may explain the high rate of infection in parts of Africa, where more than 70 percent of people may carry herpes virus 8.
Since there is not enough data yet to support the new findings no new recommendation have been made that people with HIV avoid deep kissing.
Dr. Anna Wald, a Washington researcher, noted that herpes virus 8 is closely related to the common Epstein Barr virus, which causes mononucleosis,long known as the kissing disease.“Teenagers tend to get this when they start kissing,” she said. “The reason they get Epstein Bar virus and not herpes virus 8 is that most people have Epstein Bar virus, but relatively few have herpes virus 8.”
