Allergies – sufferers kiss with caution
Fear not, lovebirds: A kiss by itself is unlikely to kill.But for people with food allergies, a smooch can trigger a potentially fatal reaction. It becomes a risk when one kissing partner has eaten something that can cause an allergic reaction in the other.
How?
Tiny bits of food can stick between teeth or otherwise remain in saliva. “We hear about those all the time with teenagers who have food allegies,” said Dr. Princess Ogbogu, an allergist at the Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University. The reaction can vary from mild symptoms, such as itchiness, to anaphylactic shock, which can
restrict airways and lead to death. Typically, such reactions occur when the kissing partner recently has eaten a food that contains an allergen, such as peanut butter. But there are more-extreme cases. At a conference in November, doctors presented a case in which a 30-year-old man suffered a reaction after kissing his girlfriend. She had eaten peanuts two hours before the kiss and had brushed her teeth, rinsed her mouth and chewed gum since then. So much for a clean palate.
Some studies suggest that 5 to 15 percent of adults with food allergies have experienced some symptoms after kissing. So when is it safe to lock lips? “The most foolproof thing is to have the person (you’re kissing) not eat what you’re allergic to,” said Dr. Scott Sicherer, a professor of pediatrics at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.
If you can’t abstain from asparagus or strawberries, Sicherer says, it’s best to wait four hours and eat another meal before kissing. “If you’re eating a whole meal, that probably breaks things up and moves things out,” he said.
Sicherer’s recommendation is based on a 2006 study he co-wrote that looked at how long proteins from chunky peanut butter stayed in subjects’ mouths. Within an hour, scientists couldn’t detect the protein in most subjects. But in some cases, it was detectable even after they had brushed their teeth, rinsed their mouths, chewed gum or had done
a mix of those things.
Still, there is no consensus among doctors on when it is safe to smooch. The allergists who presented the case at the November conference recommend waiting 16 to 24 hours.
Dr. Sridhar Guduri of Allergy and Asthma Clinics of Ohio in Dublin said he would recommend avoiding the food for at least a day before kissing.
“You don’t need to have too much food to have a reaction,” he said.In some cases, even a kiss on the cheek can trigger a mild reaction.
Hilliard resident Bethany Schoeff said her 3-year-old son, Tyler, has several food allergies. He once had a reaction after his grandfather kissed him on the cheek. “He broke out in hives right where he had been kissed,” Schoeff said.
Doctors said that people with food allergies shouldn’t be overly alarmed as long as they’re cautious about choosing whom they kiss. “It’s not something that most allergists would ever see,” Ogbogu said. Often, it comes down to common sense, Sicherer said. Adults typically tell their partners that they have allergies and are conscious about what they and their partners eat. Teenagers, he said, are a different case. “Teenagers tend to kiss people that they might not have advanced information about,” hesaid.
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