Chinese researchers say coronavirus continues to show in men’s semen even after starting to recover.
This finding raises the posibility that the virus could be sexually transmitted.
Shangqiu Municipal Hospital carried out tests on 38 male patients who were treated at the hospital in January and February.
16% of them showed they had coronavirus in their semen.
“We found that SARS-CoV-2 can be present in the semen of patients with COVID-19, and SARS-CoV-2 may still be detected in the semen of recovering patients,” Diangeng Li of Chinese People’s Liberation Army General Hospital in Beijing and colleagues wrote.
“Even if the virus cannot replicate in the male reproductive system, it may persist, possibly resulting from the privileged immunity of testes,” the team added. Privileged immunity means the immune system cannot fully reach the region to attack viral invaders.
There is no confirmation that the virus can spread sexually as evidence of the virus in semen does bot necesarilly indicate that it is infectious.
Other viruses like Zika and Ebola have also been found to spread in semen months after the patient has recovered.
“If it could be proved that SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted sexually in future studies, sexual transmission might be a critical part of the prevention of transmission,” reported the team.
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