Men who have recovered from COVID-19 have been advised not to engage themselves in sexual activities for some time with the reason being that, studies have shown that the virus can be sexually transmitted from infected persons. It was revealed that the coronavirus can be trapped in the semen of infected individuals even after recovery, hence transmits it to their partners when engaged in unsafe sexual practices.
According to the report given by Telegraph.co.uk, semen samples of recovered patients from coronavirus in China were collected and tested and the reports that came resulted positive. In their report, it was stated that, the semen of a patient who recovered from COVID-19 tested positive, 16 days after he had recovered and a few days after all symptoms were gone.
This occurred in a municipal hospital in Shangqui situated in Henan Province. With this it was confirmed that, the virus can be engulfed in the male reproductive tract when local inflammation develops. This has been a worry to the researchers because they have not been able to rule out the exact days when they develop and stay in the semen as not all samples taken tested positive.
“Abstinence or condom use might be considered as preventative means for these patients,”
“Even if the virus cannot replicate in the male reproductive system it may persist, possibly resulting from the privileged immunity of testes,”
they stated in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“As the authors point out, this finding raises the possibility that Covid-19 might also be transmissible via semen – and thus via sexual contact – perhaps including during the recovery phase, which would have disease management implications.”
“Whilst this is a small study, that leaves many important questions unanswered – how long after Covid-19 infection does detectable virus persist in semen in those with a semen-positive result?
“It suggests that obtaining answers to such questions should be an additional priority considering our global need to understand the dynamics of person-to-person transmission of Covid-19.”
Professor Richard Sharpe, from the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh added.
It has not yet been proven if it can affect the male reproductive functions but people have been advised to abstain from sex amid COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is an interesting paper that shows that RNA for the virus responsible for Covid-19 can be detected in the semen of a proportion – 15.8 percent – of men with a confirmed infection.”
“This opens up the possibility that one route of infection may be through sexual contact, although this was not confirmed in the paper.”
Allan Pacey, a professor of andrology at the University of Sheffield added.