Kissing is a human expression of emotion that can range in intensity from energetic to erotic, platonic to passionate.  As sensually enjoyable as the activity may be, kissing exchanges saliva, microbes and all, from kisser to kissee.  Kissing can spread:

• the common cold

• influenza

• mononucleosis

• the herpes virus (1 and 2)

• syphilis

Kissing can also transmit the pathogens that some scientists link to heart disease, stroke, and pneumonia (see Tip 116).

"I wonder what fool it was that first invented kissing." ~ Jonathan Swift