Researchers Troels Arbøll and Sophie Rasmussen have explored the historical impact of romantic-sexual kissing on the spread of orally transmitted diseases like HSV-1. Contradicting the belief that kissing rapidly accelerated disease transmission, they argue that the practice, dating back to 2500 BCE
Mesopotamia, has had a long-term influence on disease spread. They also suggest such diseases might have been more prevalent in ancient and prehistoric times than previously believed.
“Evidence indicates that kissing was a common practice in ancient times, potentially representing a constant influence on the spread of orally transmitted microbes, such as HSV-1,” write Arbøll and Rasmussen. Humans generally exhibit two main types of kissing – the friendly-parental kiss and the romantic-sexual kiss.
Beyond its importance for social and sexual behavior, the emergence and act of this form of kissing may have had a secondary, unintended effect on disease transmission. Recent paleogenomics research has shown that common kiss-transmissible pathogens of today, including HSV-1, Epstein-Barr virus, and human parvovirus B19, were present in ancient historical and even prehistorical periods.
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