When a kiss on the hand may be quite fundamental

Researchers say allergens that trigger swelling, itching and other symptoms often are passed through a kiss.

By Staff and wire reports
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 22, 2003

People with serious allergies to food or drugs should think twice about even one smooch. Who knows what those tempting lips have touched!

Dr. Rosemary Hallett and her associates at the University of California-Davis found that kissing is a more common cause of potentially serious allergic reactions than previously believed, the Toledo (Ohio) Blade reported.

In a study of more than 350 people with allergies to peanuts and other food, Hallett says that she was surprised at how often allergens are passed through a kiss. Allergens are substances that trigger sneezing, wheezing, swelling, itching and other symptoms.

The transmission occurs when a person who has recently eaten peanuts, for instance, kisses a person allergic to peanuts. And tooth brushing might not help.

Scientists previously thought that it was a 1-in-1-million risk. Hallett, in study results published last summer, found that a reaction occurred in at least 5 percent of patients.

Most reactions that began immediately after the kiss and were mild: swelling lips, hives or itching.

A few people had more serious reactions involving difficulty in breathing; some required treatment in an emergency room.

"The possibility of an allergic reaction to a kiss is probably far from the minds of most people," Hallett says. But those with severe food allergies need to mention it to a love interest, she says, and tell relatives and friends who plant casual kisses.

The New England Journal of Medicine also reported on a woman who experienced a severe allergic reaction to an antibiotic that her husband took two hours before they kissed.

Some doctors suspect that kissing may be the cause of mysterious "out-of-the-blue" allergic reactions that some patients experience.

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