[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]David Batty and agencies
Friday February 10, 2006
Snogging many partners almost quadruples a teenager’s risk of contracting two potentially deadly infections, researchers warned today.
According to a study in the British Medical Journal, kissing with tongues was a major factor in spreading the meningococcal bacteria, which can cause meningitis (an inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord), and septicaemia (a form of blood poisoning).
French kissing with at least seven partners in a fortnight increased the risk of contracting meningitis or septicaemia fourfold, researchers said.
They found that teenagers who regularly attended religious ceremonies were at less risk of contracting meningococcal disease, probably because they were less likely to snog many partners.
The team said teenagers should change their behaviour to reduce their risk of infection, but accepted this was unlikely. The study examined the reasons for the steep rise in cases of, and deaths from, meningitis and septicaemia among teenagers in the UK during the 1990s. The introduction of the meningitis C vaccine in the UK in 1998 helped to lower numbers, but other forms of the infection remained a major problem.
