The British Medical Journal has reported on the risk factors that predispose teenagers to meningococcal disease, and the biggest culprit appears to be French kissing. A teenager indulging in intimate kissing with multiple partners will quadruple the risk of acquiring the sometimes fatal infection, the report says. Meningococcal disease occurs most frequently in early childhood and in adolescence. The incidence and fatality rate among teenagers in the United States rose dramatically during the 1990s, but little was known previously about the risk factors for the disease.
To compile the report, the English research team analyzed the risk and protective factors in 15-19 year olds who had been admitted to hospital with meningococcal disease between 1999 and 2000. The potential risk factors were gathered by confidential interview.
The report suggests that intimate kissing with multiple partners, a history of other illness, and being a student added up to a higher risk of the disease. Conversely, and perhaps unsurprisingly, recent attendance at a religious event was associated with lower risk.
The researchers suggest that changing personal behaviors could reduce the risk of meningococcal disease in adolescence, but they admit that "such campaigns are unlikely to have a major impact." Consequently, they believe that the key priority should remain the development of meningococcal vaccines.
Source: British Medical Journal
