Fri 08 May 2020:
Chinese researchers who tested the sperm of men infected with Covid-19 found a minority had the new coronavirus in their semen, opening up a small chance the disease could be sexually transmitted, scientists have said.
COVID-19 is spread through respiratory droplets or contact and the virus has also been detected in feces, saliva and urine.
Researchers at the Shangqiu Municipal Hospital in China’s Henan Province conducted a study to determine whether the virus was present in semen.
They tested the semen of 38 coronavirus patients aged 15 to their 50s.
Genetic material from the coronavirus was found in the semen of six patients — four of whom were at the “acute stage of infection” and two of whom were “recovering.”
The researchers noted that the study was “limited by the small sample size” and further research would be required to determine whether the virus can be sexually transmitted.
“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,” the study said.
“Abstinence or condom use might be considered as preventive means for these patients,” it said.
A previous small study of 12 Covid-19 patients in China in February and March found that all of them tested negative for Sars-CoV-2 in semen samples.
Allan Pacey, a professor of andrology at Sheffield University in the UK, said the studies should not be seen as conclusive, as there were some technical difficulties in testing semen for viruses. He said the presence of Sars-CoV-2 in sperm did not show whether it is active and capable of causing infection.
Sheena Lewis, a professor of reproductive medicine at Queen’s University Belfast, stressed that this was a “very small study” and said its findings were in keeping with other small studies showing low or no Sars-CoV-2 in tests of semen samples.
“However, the long-term effects of Sars-CoV-2 on male reproduction are not yet known,” she said.
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