Yes, it is very possible for adults to get oral thrush.  Usually it only
happens when the adult has something else going on--eg.,diabetes, HIV,
other immune impairment.

When I was 19, I had oral thrush that was so bad, I couldn't swallow and
certainly couldn't eat. It was the worst, most unrelenting, longest
lasting sore throat I have ever had. It turned out that I also had Rocky
Mountain Spotted Fever, which probably wouldn't have been recognized for
a few more weeks if not for the severity of the oral thrush. But the
treatment for RMSF is antibiotics, which made the thrush worse.  It was
an AWFUL experience.

If the mother has oral thrush, I think the mother can go ahead and kiss
her baby. SHe is using her lips, not her tonsils.  It is more important
that she wash and wash and wash her hands. Remember that thrush isn't
that easy to catch (although it goes from baby's mouth to mother's
nipples and back very easily.)  The micro-organism is ever present
anyway. What is hard is getting rid of it. Unfortunately, people who get
it tend to get it again and again. Others never get it.  I consider
myaelf quite fortunate to be in the small percentage of people who had
it once and never again. None of my kids ever had it either.

Having had oral thrush myself, I have a lot of sympathy for babies--it
hurts like hell! I really don't know how infants continue to thrive
while they have it.  I lost 20 pounds in about 3 weeks and looked like a
walking skeleton before I was cured. If more adults got it, we would
treat babies who got it a lot more aggressively.

Warmly--
Judy Gelman, IBCLC
Washington, DC

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html