Researchers have detected the coronavirus in the semen of both
infected and recently recovered patients, just like it was with Ebola virus.
The findings were published May 7 in the journal JAMA
Network Open.
The presence of virus in the semen is a new dimension in the
knowledge scientists are building up since last December, when the virus
surfaced in Wuhan China.
Now scientists know that after the virus enters the human
body, no place is sacrosanct anymore.
Apart from the lungs, it reaches the kidneys, heart, liver
and gastrointestinal tract and now the reproductive organ.
The scientists however said it is not clear if the virus can
be sexually transmitted through contact with semen or whether the virus in
semen are viable enough for that.
The study in Shangqiu, China, involved 38 young men who had
tested positive for COVID-19 .
Some of them were experiencing symptoms of the disease,
while some had recently recovered.
Participants provided semen samples, which doctors analysed
for the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
The researchers detected SARS-CoV-2 in sperm from six
participants, or 16% overall.
Of these, four patients were currently experiencing symptoms
of COVID-19, and two patients had recently recovered.
“This is an interesting finding, but it must be confirmed
that there is infectious virus — not just a virus product in the semen,” Dr.
Stanley Perlman, a professor of microbiology, immunology and paediatrics at the
University of Iowa, who was not involved in the study, told the New York Times.
In addition, it’s unclear how long the virus lingers in
semen, given that participants in the study were still showing symptoms of
COVID-19 or had only recently recovered, two or three days before.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com