Newsgroup: it.salute.aids
Titolo: AIDS-related virus spreads through kissing

(Io non sono un bravo traduttore come il nostro A+  :)
AIDS-related virus spreads through kissing
 
November 8, 2000
Web posted at: 5:02 PM EST (2202 GMT)
BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- A form of the herpes
virus that causes an AIDS-related skin cancer appears
to spread through kissing. 
Herpes virus 8 was discovered six years ago and causes
a skin cancer called Kaposi's sarcoma. In the United
States, the cancer occurs almost exclusively in people
with AIDS. 
Some had suspected that the virus was transmitted
through sexual intercourse, but the new research from
the University of Washington, reported in Thursday's
New England Journal of Medicine, contradicts that
idea. 
Dr. John Pauk and others tested 39 gay men who were
infected with the virus but did not have Kaposi's
sarcoma. They found the virus in 30 percent of their
saliva samples and mouth swabs, compared with 1
percent of anal and genital samples. When present, the
virus levels were also much higher in saliva than in
semen. 
"The important thing is it suggests that oral-oral
contact plays some role in transmission, although more
study is needed to confirm that," said Pauk. 
The study also found that homosexual men who engaged
in "deep kissing" -- kissing that involves a lot of
contact with saliva -- appeared to be at substantially
higher risk of catching the virus. 
Kaposi's sarcoma causes purple skin blotches and can
also attack the internal organs. Like many other
diseases that kill people with AIDS, it usually
affects those with weakened immune systems. The virus
alone rarely causes sickness among people with normal
disease defenses. 
The research "definitely has public health
implications for people infected with HIV," said Dr.
Ronald O. Valdiserri of the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. However, he said there was not
enough data to recommend that people with HIV avoid
deep kissing. 
Thirty percent to 50 percent of HIV-infected people
who catch herpes virus 8 will eventually get Kaposi's
sarcoma. Kaposi's sarcoma has been present for
centuries in Southern Europe, the Middle East and
Africa. But it was rare in the United States until the
start of the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s. 
Experts say the virus is still largely confined to
homosexuals in the United States, and that is why
kissing has not yet spread herpes virus 8 among
heterosexuals. 
Dr. Anna Wald, another University of 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. 
"Teen-agers tend to get this when they start kissing,"
she said. "The reason they get Epstein Barr virus and
not herpes virus 8 is that most people have Epstein
Barr virus, but relatively few have herpes virus 8." 
Dr. Patrick S. Moore of Columbia University, who
discovered the virus, said 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. 
Other forms of the herpes virus cause chicken pox,
shingles, cold sores and genital herpes. 
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deep kissing.
Mi auguro solo due cose:
1) che NON mettano a punto un apposito test di routine
2) che NON attacchino a fracassarci i coglioni con campagne ad hoc.
Sarò uno struzzo, sarò un oscurantista, MA BASTA!!!
A +
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