Wow,

I always wondered why my mom, aunts and grandmother used to plant all those kisses on us as kids. Now I think I understand. (How feasible is a study comparing lip kissing cultures with non-lip kissers?)

so herpes isn't the only herpesvirus. chickenpox is a herpesvirus, for example. as are measles and mono. so they're not just transmitted by kissing.

I wonder if this is related to the evidence that says growing up in a cleaner environment is correlated with having alergies....

albatross:

right on!

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/f...ll/322/7283/ 376

Interesting to think about the relationship between a virus and a host as symbiotic.
Bacteriophages have always been used as an example of how viruses can influence host genomes.
This study suggests that viruses also influence host immune systems, and not just in the obvious ways. Seem like just another example of "epigenetics"