(WTVR) — Doctors are worried about a growing trend among school age kids and teens in Japan.
The “worming” or oculolinctus fetish, which is basically licking a friend or lover’s eyeballs, is nothing new. But that it is affecting students is startling.
In fact, things have gotten so out of hand that multiple cases of pinkeye or conjunctivitis were reported at an elementary school in Japan.
One blogger reported that a sixth-grade teacher caught two of his students in the act in an equipment closet. When confronted, the kids told him that licking eyeballs was popular among their classmates — and that everybody else was doing it.
And the Daily Caller reported that in one class, one-third of students admitted to “worming” or having sometime tongue their eyeball.
Doctors are sounding the alarm while pointing out that the eye may be an erogenous zone because of its high concentration of nerves.
“This is a dangerous practice which has the potential to spread a number of bacteria that reside in the mouth to the eye resulting in bacterial infections such as conjunctivitis to styes as well as abscesses involving the lids and eye socket,” Dr. Robert Glatter told CBSNews.com.
Glatter also said he is worried the trend could also cause sexually transmitted infections like Chlamydia. And there’s always the fear that intense licking could actually scratch the eye.
In a worst case scenario, another doctor warned some untreated germs could even cause blindness, which is the reason using your tongue to moisten your contact lenses is a no-no.
Click here to read more on this trending story from CBS News.
