Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1989. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International - Friday, 13 January 1989.
In a letter to the Journal of the American Medical Association, the research team described its study of 45 volunteer couples. Their saliva was analyzed for blood before and after tooth brushing, eating and deep, passionate kissing.
The virus causing acquired immune deficiency syndrome is known to be transmitted by blood cells.
The researchers, all at the Clinica Malattie Infettive Secondo Policlinico in Naples, said that during passionate kissing, the damaged linings of two peoples' mouths could "come into close contact and blood can pass directly from one subject to another. . . . If the blood of one partner is infective, human immunodeficiency virus can pass into the bloodstream of the other partner."
" . . . Passionate kissing cannot be considered protective sex," they said.
But Dr. Philip Fox, a senior investigator at the U.S. National Institute of Dental Research, in Bethesda, Md., said in an interview, "There is a great deal of epidemiological evidence that HIV is not transmitted by the oral route."
Fox pointed to studies showing that living in a nonsexual situation with AIDS patients does not lead to infection; that dentists are at extremely low risk of infection; and that uninfected homosexuals who practice only oral sex are at no added risk of contracting HIV compared with the general population.
Copyright (c) 1989/UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, UPI, 1510 H St. N.W. Washington DC 20005.
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