Is nothing sacred?
A top Australian doctor has warned that kissing has overtaken smoking and drinking to become the primary risk factor for developing head and neck cancers.
But how can this be?
Well Dr Mahiban Thomas, who is head of maxillofacial and head and neck surgery at the Royal Darwin hospital, warned that kissing (and just to be clear, we’re talking about full-on snogging rather than a peck on the cheek) can pass on HPV (human papilloma virus) – a family of viruses which can lead to cancer.
In fact, Dr Thomas explained that, according to studies coming out of America, around 70 per cent of head and neck cancers are due to HPV.