Oh, those wacky ...

[Matthew L Martin]

... Japanese are at it again:

<http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/eyeball-licking-trend-in-japan-leads-to-spike-in-infections-1.1326219:

> Eyeball licking trend in Japan leads to spike in infections
> CTVNews.ca Staff Published Friday, June 14, 2013 5:11PM EDT Last
> Updated Friday, June 14, 2013 5:24PM EDT
>
> A bizarre trend in Japan is proving that kissing and canoodling can
> be all fun and games until somebody licks an eyeball.
>
> The trend involves prying back the eyelids of ones you love to lick
> their eyeball. The practice, dubbed “worming” or, more clinically,
> “oculolinctus,” might sound harmless -- if somewhat gross -- but it
> appears to be leading to a spike in eye infections.
>
> According to some who have tried eye licking, it can induce erotic
> sensations, much like another notorious germ-spreading mode of
> affection: toe-sucking.
>
> One woman named Elektrika Energias, told the Huffington Post she’s
> hooked on the habit.
>
> "My boyfriend started licking my eyeballs years ago and I just loved
> it. I'm not with him anymore, but I still like to ask guys to lick my
> eyeballs," she said. "I just love it because it turns me on, like
> sucking on my toes. It makes me feel all tingly."
>
> But the practice is also a great way to spread mouth germs that have
> no business being on the eyeball. And those germs can lead to an eye
> infection called conjunctivitis, better known as “pink eye,” says Dr.
> Tanya Sitter, an optometrist in Olds, Alta.
>
> “Most colds and flus and some other infections are spread by saliva,
> so it’s not surprising that if you’re applying saliva directly to the
> eye, you’re going to see an increase in bacterial or viral
> conjunctivitis,” she told CTVNews.ca.
>
> Sitter, who admits she had never heard of “eye-licking” until this
> week, says even more concerning than pink eye would be the risk of
> transferring serious pathogens, such as chlamydia bacteria or herpes
> viruses.
>
> “You’re putting yourself at risk for any kind of infection that can
> live in your mouth,” she said.
>
> “You can get a herpes infection of the eye. So cold sores in your
> mouth, they can transfer herpes to the eye. And those infections are
> incredibly painful and not easy to treat.”
>
> It’s also possible to develop a form conjunctivitis caused by
> chlamydia bacteria, called trachoma.
>
> “That’s a pretty nasty one,” Sitter says.
>
> The issue of infections caused by eyeball licking was first exposed
> by the Japanese website Naver Matome and then translated into English
> this week by another website called Japan Crush.
>
> In the Naver Matome post, a Japanese middle school teacher identified
> as "Mr. Y," said he had been noticing that kids in his Grade 6 class
> were often coming to class with styes, or bumps on the eyelids caused
> by mild bacterial infections. Then he noticed that as many as 10
> children in the same class were wearing eye patches.
>
> He figured out what was going on when he stumbled upon a young couple
> in a supply closet at the school who were licking each other’s
> eyeballs. The students were questioned and eventually revealed that
> eyeball licking had become popular among their classmates.
>
> As for how the trend got started, it’s unclear. Some are pointing to
> a music video released earlier this year by Japanese band Born in
> which a woman licks the eyeball of the band’s lead singer.

'Scuse me while I lick this eye.

Matthew