Coronavirus Thrives in Semen, Can COVID-19 be Transmitted Sexually?

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Medical experts and scientists are still studying the characteristics and the mechanism of SARS-CoV-2 and how it moves inside the body. In past studies, particles of the coronavirus have been observed in the blood, saliva, urine and fecal samples.

In a more recent study, it was found that the virus also thrived in the semen of men who have active COVID-19 infections and even in those who have already recovered. The said study was published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association on Thursday.

However, according to Business Insider, the researchers are still unsure if the findings mean that the virus can be sexually transmitted.

Around 16% of men studied had SARS-CoV-2 in their semen

Semen samples from 38 male patients who have and have had COVID-19 infections were taken by a team of Chinese researchers between January 26 and February 16. The patients were admitted to a hospital in China's Henan province which borders Wuhan, the city where the virus first emerged in China.

Researchers were then able to detect SARS-CoV-2 particles in the semen of 6 out of the 38 samples that were taken from the patients. This accounts for about 16% of the sample population studied. Moreover, out of the six, two have already recovered while four were in the acute stage of the infection when the samples were taken.

The owners of the six samples which have been observed with the virus in their semen aged from 20 to 50 years old.

According to the authors of the study, there was no significant difference observed between the patients whose semen samples tested negative and positive in areas of age, days since onset of the disease and hospitalization, urogenital disease history, and days since they have been considered clinically recovered.

Can the virus be transmitted through sex?

However, according to the researchers, it remains unknown if COVID-19 can be considered as a sexually transmitted infection. They also noted that what is only sure is that it can spread though saliva droplets.

Furthermore, the authors still do not know how SARS-CoV-2 entered the testicles of the patients. They, however, noted that the barrier between the bloodstream and some parts of the male reproductive system is imperfect, thus some viruses can pass through. On top of this, they said that the barrier can also be affected by inflammation caused by the novel coronavirus.

In the past, there have been many viruses that were observed in human semen yet they cannot be transmitted sexually.

"The presence of viruses in semen may be more common than currently understood, and traditional non-sexually transmitted viruses should not be assumed to be totally absent in genital secretions," the researchers explained.

Meanwhile, other studies on viruses in the semen revealed that the Zika and Ebola viruses can be transmitted through reproductive fluids and sexual intercourse.

On the other hand, the researchers are also looking into the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 particles found in the semen would not be infectious. As of the moment, more research needs to be done in order to confirm these possibilities. The researchers also noted that studying these will be very beneficial to public health practice concerning viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 with high morbidity and mortality.