The kissing disease

Did you know, when you snog a stranger (or someone you know) you’re estimated to exchange around 80 million bacteria with them? Not such a turn on anymore is it? Sorry. But don’t worry, thankfully the vast majority of the time this is absolutely fine… but before you go on off snogging everyone in sight we want to talk to you about ‘the kissing disease’.

Maybe you’ve heard of it but don’t know what it is, or maybe you haven’t heard of it at all. But if you catch it you’ll certainly know about it. It can leave you wiped out for several weeks or even months. So what is the kissing disease and do you need to worry about it? Read on as we answer a reader’s question and explain what all the fuss is about.

What is the kissing disease?

“I’ve heard about something called ‘the kissing disease’, but what is it?”

What’s often called the ‘kissing disease’ is actually a condition called glandular fever, or iInfectious mononucleosis, sometimes just called mono.

It’s caused by the Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and is spread through saliva from one person to another. This means kissing, coughing and sneezing, plus sharing cups and unwashed forks and spoons with someone who’s carrying the virus are all great ways to catch it. For these reasons, it often makes an appearance at university during freshers week. Although there are plenty of other ways to catch it besides kissing, ‘the kissing disease’ seems to be the name that sticks in people’s minds.

Symptoms of the kissing disease

Common symptoms of glandular fever include sore throat, fatigue and swollen tonsils.

Usually people recover from glandular fever and feel back to normal within a month or so, but it can take a while to stop feeling tired. A small number can experience fatigue for a number of months after contracting the virus.

However, whether you’re floored with it for months or weeks, you can still be contagious after two months – even if you’re feeling better and the symptoms have gone. This means it can spread a bit more easily than other viruses.

But the good news is once you’ve had glandular fever you’re unlikely to get it again, as the body develops a life-long immunity against it.

More information about glandular fever

You can read more about glandular fever in our article on common university illnesses here.

Is your body doing things it’s not supposed to? Check out the rest of our body problems articles here for more support.